


Dark Side of the Moon [Louis]

by awkwardom



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Blood and Violence, F/M, Full Moon, Full Shift Werewolves, LGBTQ Character, Liam and Niall might be in this, Loss of Control, M/M, One Direction Werewolf, Platonic Larry though, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Takes place in Canada, Werewolf, Werewolf Reveal, Werewolf Turning, Werewolf!Louis, Witches, beta, larry stylinson - Freeform, one direction - Freeform, some stuff may be inspired by Teen Wolf, some stuff my be inspired by Supernatural, werewoves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-05-23 02:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 51,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6101233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awkwardom/pseuds/awkwardom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Camellia never thought her life would turn out the way it did. She never thought that being in love would change her life in such a drastic way. She never thought that being with Louis meant carrying such a heavy burden, and she most certainly didn't think that she would fall in love with a werewolf... She thought they weren't real.</p>
<p>The thing is, Louis longs to be human. He hates being the way he is and wants to change. Can he and Camellia find a way to turn him human? And will they be able to maintain their relationship?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I've had ideas for this story since I was twelve and I've been wanting to write it for years. I started writing for it recently, then I deleted it because I didn't know where to go, I was busy and it was bad. I've finally sat down and I'm really going to plan out this story chapter by chapter. It will be a bit slow at first since it's only the beginning, and chapters may be a bit shorter. I promise it will get better after a few chapters.

Camellia’s alarm was due to go off any minute now. She didn’t have to look at her phone to know. She had been up half the night, tossing and turning in bed and trying to ignore a strange feeling she was getting. The strange feeling was strong, though; strong enough that she tried pacing and counting the cracks in her ceiling to help her fall asleep. Camellia didn’t know what the strange feeling was exactly, but she did know that it sent a sort of energy through her body. This feeling was almost like excitement, but she didn’t know what for. Camellia hadn’t experienced the thrill of excitement for a few years, especially since she moved to Greyview.

Greyview was a relatively small town in Northern Ontario with a population close to two or three thousand. Greyview was an uneventful place to live due to its small population of two thousand and the lack of tourist attractions. Camellia believed that the town was called Greyview because it is such a boring place, but it was really named after the man who built the town, William Greyview. The largest celebration in town was its birthday, and even then, it wasn’t a big event. All that would happen is that the mayor would do a speech on the news and would host a dinner banquet at the community centre that evening.

The alarm on Camellia’s phone blared suddenly, startling her as she was distracted by her thoughts. She quickly rolled over and turned off the annoying sound before sitting up and rubbing her eyes sleepily. Camellia yawned and she looked around her small bedroom, seeing the outfit she set out the night before folded neatly on her desk. Despite the strange energetic feeling that kept her up half the night and was still present in her body, Camellia knew that today would just be like any other day. She would eat breakfast, leave for her job at the local RBC bank at seven thirty, have her lunch at noon, come home at approximately five P.M., watch television or read a book, and go to bed at approximately ten-thirty. That was her daily routine, and Camellia hated it. It was boring and repetitive, but when you live in a town like Greyview, you almost learn to accept it. 

Camellia got out of bed and made her way down the hall to her kitchen. Her feet dragged across the wooden floor as she trudged into the kitchen. Though she still felt that strange energetic feeling, she was exhausted from the lack of sleep and therefore making her movements slow and sluggish. Reaching the kitchen, she made herself a quick cup of coffee and put some bread in the toaster. When her toast was done and buttered up, she entered the living room and sat down on the couch. She turned the television on and it immediately went to the local news. Camellia wasn’t really interested in watching the news, since nothing exciting or even interesting happened in this pathetic little town, but she knew that there would be nothing else on so early in the morning and she was too lazy to go to her Netflix account. So, she forced herself to watch the woman with too much makeup blab about stories that most people wouldn’t care about. The weather report came on and a somewhat attractive man began to blab about the incoming snowfall – though there was always snow when it came to winter in Greyview – and then the news anchor began talking about a fundraiser an elementary school was having to raise money and awareness of cancer. The school was a small one, though, so she knew they wouldn’t raise much money no matter how hard they tried.

A few boring new stories later, when Camellia was about to turn off the television because she was so bored, the news anchor said, “A man was found dead at the edge of the local forest early this morning. He was found at approximately five A.M. by a jogger. Investigators are saying that it appears to have been an animal attack.” A video clip of paramedics loading a filled body bag appeared on the screen following the news anchor’s line.

An animal attack? Camellia thought in astonishment. There hasn’t been an animal attack in at least twenty years. Camellia was still relatively new to town – having moved in only a few years ago – but she knew that animal attacks were rare in Greyview. There weren’t rabid dogs or cats or even squirrels that threw nuts at people. Animal attacks of any sorts in Greyview literally never happened.

“The municipal police are advising all citizens to stay out of the forest until further notice,” the woman on the television screen added.

There was a large forest at the edge of Greyview which took up about half of the town. It was huge and thick with trees of all sorts. Most would think that the government would send workers in to use the trees as lumber, but they did no such thing. In fact, it was almost an unspoken rule that no one enters the forest of Greyview. People rarely went into the forest. Of course, there were those who did go into the forest anyway since it wasn’t actually illegal to go in, and they came out fine. Camellia didn’t understand why people didn’t want to go into the forest, but she didn’t bother trying to find out why. People in this town were also secretive.

Camellia looked up at the clock, and when she saw that it was seven, she decided to drop the topic and turn off the television. She quickly got up, throwing her plate and empty mug into the sink before going to her bedroom to get ready for work. She changed out of her pajamas and into a pair of navy blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a black cardigan. Camellia worked at the only RBC bank in town, and luckily didn’t have to wear a uniform. The employees were allowed to wear whatever they wanted as long as it was appropriate and consisted of the colours white, blue, black, yellow or a combination since those were the colours of their logo.

Once Camellia was finished getting dressed, she went to the bathroom to brush her hair and do her makeup. For a moment, she stared at her reflection, inspecting it carefully. Though she couldn't explain why, she felt as though she would look a little different today, but to her disappointment, she looked the same as always. Same light brown hair than fell down to the middle of her back, same blue eyes, same pale skin with the same light freckles that dusted her cheeks and nose. Same old Camellia Lutomski living in the same old boring town of Greyview. Nothing was different about today and nothing would be different tomorrow; it was just the way her life worked.

Sighing, Camellia brushed her hair and put it in a high ponytail. She then did her makeup, deciding to only apply a thin layer of foundation and mascara. She almost didn’t bother putting on makeup, but she didn’t want clients to see her with dark bags under her eyes. She needed to look presentable at work in order to uphold their professional reputation.

Once she was done doing her makeup, she grabbed her phone and went to the kitchen. A ham and cheese sandwich sat on the middle shelf in the fridge. She grabbed it, along with a water bottle, and closed the fridge. After placing all the items in her canvas bag, she put on her winter gear and began the walk to work.

Greyview was small enough that people could essentially walk everywhere they went, yet many still took the bus or drove to wherever they were going. Camellia didn’t have a car and didn’t feel like paying for bus fees or a monthly pass, so she decided walking to work would be simpler. 

A cold gust of air blew Camellia’s hair around as she trudged through the thick snow. It was cold outside since it was early March, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been in the previous months. The sun was still rising, giving the brightening sky an orange hue. Camellia could faintly see the outline of the forest as she walked to work, though it still looked like a dark mass of trees.

The town of Greyview wasn’t much to look at visually. A lot of buildings looked similar both in size, shape and colour, which varied between shades of grey and brown. The sky was often cloudy in Greyview, no matter what season it was, making the buildings look even duller. The town lacked big buildings and tourist attractions. The biggest buildings were the local hospital, the community centre and the distillery by the one road in and out of town. Beyond the forest stood two mountains named Mount George and Mount Harrison. George and Harrison were William Greyview’s only sons out of his seven children, and when he discovered the land and decided to build the town, he took liberty of naming the mountains as well. The sun would rise up behind Mount George in the morning and set behind Mount Harrison in the evening. They happened to be Greyview’s only tourist attraction, but they were too steep and dangerous to climb.

By the time Camellia arrived at RBC at quarter to eight, her cheeks and nose were red from the cold and she was muttering curse words under her breath. The warm air engulfed her body when she stepped inside, and she let out a breath in relief. Quickly, she made her way down the hall and into the staff room. Many of her co-workers were putting their personal belongings in their lockers and chatting with one another. Camellia smiled at those who saw her and went to her locker, eyes drifting over to a particular co-worker of hers: Vanessa Collins.

Camellia wasn’t overly fond of Vanessa for a few reasons. First of all, Vanessa was extremely talkative. Camellia knew a few excessive talkers and none of them were as bad as Vanessa. This girl would never shut up, and it was extremely distracting. It was even worse since half the time she talked about stuff Camellia didn’t care about, such as celebrity gossip and the Kardashians. Vanessa also happened to be very nosy. The girl was obsessed with gossip, which was rather odd considering she lived in such an uneventful town. She was always getting in people’s business and spreading gossip across Greyview. Lastly, Vanessa was also rude to Camellia, though she had no idea why. Ever since she started working at the bank, Vanessa has found subtle ways to dampen her mood.

“Hey Cam,” Vanessa said with a smile. Her brown eyes were twinkling with delight, and Camellia knew that it meant Vanessa had some news she was ready to gossip about.

“Hey Vanessa,” Camellia said in reply, going to her locker and opening it. Despite the fact that Vanessa was rude to her and annoyed her, Camellia did her best to be polite and treat her fellow co-worker with respect. She would want the same, so it would be unfair of her to treat Vanessa differently.

“Did you hear about the dead body found the morning?” Vanessa asked in an excited tone. Camellia wanted to scoff because this girl was getting excited over a dead body.

“Yeah, I did. It was shocking,” Camellia answered, taking off her coat and shoving her scarf in one of the sleeves.

“I know right! Like, there hasn’t been an animal attack here in, what, twenty years? These things don’t just happen in Greyview,” she exclaimed. Camellia only nodded in agreement and put her coat in her locker. Vanessa frowned at the lack of reaction and said, “You don’t seem all that excited,” in a confused tone of voice.

Camellia rolled her eyes and sat down on the bench by the lockers so she could take off her winter boots off. “Well a dead body isn’t exactly exciting, now is it? It’s really not a good thing. If this is the first animal attack in two decades, shouldn’t we be worrying about it?”

Vanessa shrugged and flicked a strand of her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder. “Whatever. The police are saying it looks like a wolf that killed that guy. My dad’s going to the forest this weekend to kill the wolf.

Camellia hums in response and puts her boots in her locker. Everybody in town knew that Vanessa’s father, Victor Collins, was a skilled hunter and went on a big hunting trip once a month with some friends and family. They often came back with some sort of memorabilia, such as the fur of an animal they’d killed. Camellia found it disgusting, the way he would just parade around town bragging about how many animals he’d killed.

“Didn’t the police advise everyone to stay out of the forest?” Camellia asked as she pulled out her black flats.

“My dad has a hunting license, so he’s in the clear.”

“I don’t think having a hunting license will keep him from getting in trouble if the police find him in there.” Camellia stood up and grabbed her name tag, pinning it to her cardigan. “The police said not to go into the forest. Your dad will probably get in trouble unless he’s gotten special permission from the police.” 

“Whatever. What do you know about hunting, anyway?” Vanessa said in a snooty voice. Camellia resisted the urge to roll her eyes, instead closing her locker and turning to face her co-worker.

“I know I don’t know much about hunting, but I’m being logical here. Do you want your dad to get in trouble?”

“He won’t. Gosh, you’re such a worry wart.” Vanessa scoffed and turned on her heel, saying, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Please don’t,” Camellia mumbled to herself once Vanessa had walked far enough that she couldn’t hear her. Camellia shook her head and closed her locker. When she turned around to go to her desk out front, she bumped into her boss.

“Oops, sorry,” she immediately apologized.

“Oh it’s fine,” her boss said, smiling down at her. “Listen, I know this is last minute, but can you work late tonight? Liam is sick and I need someone to cover his shift.”

“Yeah, sure,” Camellia agreed, though she was not happy about being asked to work late.

“Thank you so much! I know this is last minute, and I appreciate you doing this. Next time I need you to work late I promise I’ll ask you earlier,” Camellia’s boss said with an apologetic smile.

“It’s no problem, really. I didn’t have plans anyway, unless you call binging on Netflix plans,” Camellia joked.

“Trust me, I’d be doing that too if I could,” he said with a laugh. “Well, I’ll let you get to it. His shift ends at seven. Thank you for doing this, Camellia. I knew I could count on you.”

Camellia gave her boss a smile and wave before turning back to her locker and sighing. She really didn’t want to stay late, but she couldn’t just say no to her boss. With the news of her extra hours dampening her mood, Camellia left the staff room and went to her desk, where she would sit for the majority of the day to deal with clients.

*

When the clock hit seven P.M., Camellia couldn’t have been more relieved. She was forced to sit at her desk for an extra two hours, only needing to deal with two clients within the first hour. It was extremely boring sitting at her desk with nothing to do and no clients to help. She would have gone on her phone or gone on Facebook on the desktop, but she didn’t want to get distracted or get in trouble with her boss. 

Camellia quickly cleaned up her desk and went to her locker in the staff room. The lights were dim since it was later in the evening and not many people came to the bank at seven. She happened to be one of the only people left in the bank, her boss and the electrician fixing the lights in the back room being the only other people left.

After exchanging her flats for winter boots and wrapping herself up in her coat and scarf, she left the bank. A gush of cold air hit her face as soon as she stepped outside, and she shivered, shoving her hands into her coat pockets and beginning her trek home. There was about a foot of snow on the ground, making her walk slower and her steps heavier.

It was pitch black outside, nothing but the street lamps and lights from store windows illuminating the sidewalk. Not many people were out at this time, surprisingly. Camellia suspected it was because people were worried that a wolf would come out of nowhere and attack them in the streets. The idea was a bit ridiculous since wolves didn’t go into towns all that often. People come up with crazy ideas when they’re paranoid.

Camellia felt isolated as she walked down the empty streets. She usually left work when it was still light outside, not when it was dark. Even though it gets darker earlier in the winter, it was still somewhat light out when Camellia left work, and there were more people on the streets, so she wasn’t alone. Camellia didn’t like to be alone outside when it was dark out. There were so many stories of people getting beaten or kidnapped at night and she was worried that something would happen to her. Whenever she had to go outside by herself at night, she kept a tight grip on her phone and kept an eye out for anything remotely suspicious. She didn’t want to take any chances.

As she walked home, the strange feeling she’d felt earlier that morning returned. The feeling had disappeared soon after she arrived at work, and she had completely forgotten about it until now. She didn’t know why she was feeling it now of all times. It was probably the paranoia that caused it.

All of a sudden, a man came out of nowhere and crashed into her. The man was running so fast that Camellia hadn’t seen him until their bodies collided with one another. She let out an ‘umph’ as she fell backwards, the man doing the same. They both landed on their butts in the thick snow, breathing shakily and looking at each other with wide eyes.

“Watch where you’re going, will you?” Camellia snapped, groaning when she felt her jeans get wet from the snow.

The man didn’t say anything, just stared at her with wide eyes. He was breathing heavily, chest heaving with every wheeze he let out. The man looked like he was in pain, and every wheeze that fell from his lips made Camellia more and more concerned for the stranger’s well-being.

“Sir, are you alright?” she asked. The man didn’t say anything once again, but he suddenly jumped up and took off in the direction he’d been running in the first place. He stumbled a couple times as he ran and before she knew it, he was out of sight. Camellia let out another huff and stood up, shivering as the melted snow seeped through her jeans and made her legs cold. “What a weirdo,” she said to herself before standing up.

A howl in the distance reached Camellia’s ears, and she turned towards the forest. The clouds broke just enough so that the full moon was visible, shining bright above Mount George and Mount Harrison. Camellia shivered, momentarily thinking of the man killed by a wolf earlier that morning, and ran the rest of the way home, worried that she would also be a victim of an animal attack.


	2. Chapter Two

It was freezing outside as Camellia walked through the thick snow. Cold, harsh wind blew her hair back and made her eyes water from irritation. The tingling in her nose and cheeks indicated that they were turning rosy red. Her breaths came out in little clouds of warm air as she trudged down the sidewalk.

Camellia was on her lunch break and had left the bank five minutes ago to find a place to eat. She’d chosen to go to Tim Hortons since it was close to work, the food was good and it was reasonably priced. She had forgotten to make herself lunch, but thankfully she had brought her wallet with her to work.

When Camellia saw Tim Hortons up ahead, she sighed in relief and quickened her pace. The cold air was nipping at her nose and ears, making them tingle almost painfully. Camellia hated the cold that came with the birth of every winter. She had come to dislike winter more when she moved to Greyview. The already dull buildings looked even duller when the sky turned grey and the snow coated the streets in its thick white blanket. Winter made the town look more lifeless than it already was.

Camellia finally reached the door and was quick to open it, entering the enfranchisement. Camellia let out another sigh of relief as her body was engulfed by warm air. The delicious smell of coffee and pastry filled her nose and her stomach rumbled from hunger. She went to the line and looked up at the menu as she waited. However, it was hard to see due to the fact that the man in front of her was taller. She tried standing on her toes so she could see, but to no avail, she still could not see. The man turned around when a huff fell from Camellia’s lips.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, a hint of irritation in his voice. Camellia looked up at the man and saw the irritation in his dark eyes.

“Oh, no. Sorry, I just can’t see,” Camellia responded, shocked by the stranger’s sudden anger.

The man’s face softened. “Oh, sorry,” he said apologetically. He turned around again and moved to the side just slightly so Camellia could see the menu. Camellia opened her mouth to thank him but he moved over to the counter to place an order before she could do so. Almost immediately after, another cashier asked for the next customer to come forward so she went over, ordering a ham and Swiss sandwich and a small hot chocolate.

Once she’d received and paid for her food, she turned around to find a table. However, she bumped into someone and they fell to the floor. Camellia shrieked when she spilled her hot chocolate on her arm and gasped when she fell to the floor. The stranger grunted. The first thing she saw when she looked at the stranger was a big wet stain on their shirt.

“I’m so sorry,” Camellia apologized quickly. “I didn’t see you coming.”

The other person – who happened to be the man who had been standing in front of her only a minute ago – took deep breaths and clenched his fists tightly. After a moment, he opened his eyes and shook his head. “No, it’s my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Camellia noticed then that the man had a British accent.

“Is everything alright here?” a Tim Hortons employee asked as he reached the pair.

“Everything’s fine,” the man said, standing up and brushing himself off. He then looked down to Camellia, who had yet to stand up. He asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” As she began to stand up, her arm began to throb in pain, making her wince.

The man seemed to notice her pain, his eyes fell down to her hand. It was red from the burn and still dripping hot chocolate. “Could we get some ice for her hand? It looks like she burnt it,” he said to the Tim Hortons employee.

“Sure,” he said before walking away.

“What about you?” she asked, pointing at the stain on his shirt. It wasn’t very big, just about the size of a fist.

“Oh, it doesn’t hurt anymore. Listen, I’m really sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. It’s fine,” she said. Tim Hortons employee returned with ice and napkins for her hand. She thanked him and wiped the hot chocolate off her hand as another employee came over to mop up the mess they made. “You should still put some ice on there,” she suggested, pointing at the stain.

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” he said with a dismissive flick of the hand. “I’m Louis, by the way,” he added, holding out his hand for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you, Louis. My name’s Camellia,” she replied, shaking his hand politely. His hand was really warm, Camellia noticed.

“That’s a nice name,” he commented with a small smile. Camellia blushed at his comment and smiled back. 

“Thank you.”

“Well…I’m going to get going. It was nice meeting you, Camellia, and I’m sorry about earlier.” Louis turned and rushed towards the front door, pushing past the small crowd that had gathered around them. Camellia didn’t get the chance to say anything to him because he was out of the building before she could do so.

Strange, Camellia thought.

“Ma’am, would you like another hot chocolate?” another employee asked. “It’ll be on us.”

“Oh, um…sure. Thanks,” she answered.

As she waited for her hot chocolate, she thought about Louis and wondered why he left the scene so quickly. A few possibilities came to mind; maybe he had to get back to his job; maybe he had social anxiety and just wanted to get away from the crowd; maybe he was naturally a fast walker. They were all realistic and probable reasons for why he seemed to rush out, but Camellia had a feeling that none of those were the reason why. 

“Here you go,” the employee said, a cup of hot chocolate in his hand.

“Thank you.” Carefully, she took the hot cup from their hands and opened the lid. Steam rose up and warmed her face in a soothing way.

The crowd had dispersed at this point, going back to their tables or standing in line again. Camellia found a table by the window and sat down, placing her sandwich bag and hot chocolate on the table. She looked out the window at the seemingly never ending sea of white. The clouds moved apart slightly, allowing faint rays of sunlight to shine down on the town. For once, the town didn’t look so dull. Camellia pulled her iPhone from her coat pocket and snapped a picture of the window and the scenery. After taking a few shots, she chose one and posted it on Instagram, deciding not to use a filter since it was a very good quality picture. She wrote for the caption, It’s actually somewhat sunny today.

With nothing else to do, she scrolled through her Instagram feed. She stopped on a picture Vanessa Collins posted of her and her father. Victor Collins had a rough appearance. His dark eyes stood out against his wan skin and his slowly greying hair. Even though he had prominent biceps and triceps, he shoulders sagged forward and his thick brows were always furrowed as though he were glaring. When he and his daughter stood next to each other, it was hard to believe that she was his child. Vanessa was beautiful compared to him, with strawberry blonde hair that fell down her shoulders in gentle waves, hazel eyes and a thin body that made a lot of Greyview girls jealous. It was obvious that Vanessa got her good looks from her mother.

This wolf won’t last long when Daddy goes hunting this weekend.

Camellia let out a breath and scrolled past the photo, shaking her head a bit. She wanted the wolf – or whatever it was that killed that man – away from Greyview just as much as the next person, but she didn’t want it to be killed. Of course, she knew that that was the only way anyone could effectively deal with the animal, but couldn’t they just leave it alone? It only killed one person – that didn’t mean it was going to kill more. As long as everyone stayed out of the forest like the police had said, then no one could get hurt. And knowing Victor Collins and his hunting buddies, they wouldn’t just kill the animal if they found it. No, they would skin it and bring the fur back to town for everyone to see.

It was also a little stupid of Vanessa to make a post about her dad going into the forest that weekend since the police said no one was allowed. Someone could easily see that post and tell the police about it, then her dad would get in trouble. Although, the police could have given him special permission to go to the forest.

Sighing, Camellia took a sip of her hot chocolate and scrolled through her Instagram feed some more, not wanting to think about the animal attack that had the town of Greyview on edge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS STORY IS ALSO ON QUOTEV AND WATTPAD!!! If you use those sites more frequently like I do, feel free to check this story out on those sites instead.


	3. Chapter Three

Camellia picks up a DVD and examines the description of the movie on the back of the case. It was Friday evening and she was at looking in the Clearance bin at Walmart for a movie to buy. As usual, Camellia was spending her Friday evening alone, while her friends – who she did not have a lot of – were probably off doing something interesting. Camellia’s friends didn’t live in Greyview – they lived all the way in Toronto, which was a few hours away. Camellia did have one friend in Greyview named Liam, but they weren’t as close as Camellia was to her old friends.

She picked up another DVD, this time for a movie she had seen three months back and found enjoyable. She checked the price and decided to buy it when she saw how cheap the DVD was. For a moment, she wondered if the movie was on Netflix, but then she remembered it wasn’t on Canadian Netflix. Camellia then continued to look through the DVDs to see if anything else caught her eye.

After looking through the DVDs and picking another two to buy, she decided she was ready to pay for everything. She turned around to go to where the customers were waiting in line when she bumped into someone. She let out an ‘oof’ and stumbled back a couple steps. There was a faint chuckle, and when Camellia looked up she saw a familiar face.

“Fancy meeting you here,” the man said. His British accent made him seem even more familiar, but Camellia still couldn’t put her finger on where she had seen him before.

“Uh…I’m sorry, do I know you?” she asked, trying her best not to be awkward.

The man arched an eyebrow. “It’s me, Louis. We spilled our drinks all over each other at Tim Hortons the other day,” he said.

“Oh!” she said in realization. “Right. Hey!”

“Hey!” he said, mimicking the way she spoke. “It’s funny how every time we run into each other we literally run into each other.”

“Yeah. So, uh…what are you doing here?” Camellia asked, once again trying not to be awkward. Camellia was not the most social person so interacting with new people always made her a little uncomfortable.

“Grocery shopping. You?” he asked. It was then that Camellia noticed Louis was holding a basket full of food items.

“Buying some movies.”

“Ah.”

The two of them stood in silence for a moment, neither of them sure what to do or say. There was an awkward tension hanging in the air, so thick that it could be cut by a knife. Camellia swayed on the balls of her feet and crossed her arms over her chest, the silence making her want to disappear into thin air.

“Well, I…uh…I’m going to go now, so…nice seeing you again.”

“Wait!” he called suddenly. Camellia froze and turned to look at him, raising her eyebrows questioningly. “I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me.”

Camellia was shocked with his question. This man – who she barely knew – was asking her out. It was strange and very sudden and Camellia wasn’t sure how to react. She wasn’t used to being asked out by…well, anyone. The one time she was asked out was in grade nine when her school was having a dance. The boys were instructed to ask the girls out and a boy named Freddy Limbowski asked her out. He dressed like a stereotypical geek and everyone made fun of him for it. Freddy had seemed nice at the time, so Camellia had agreed to go with him. The night of the dance, he barely talked to her and forced her to stand in the corner by herself. She learned later that night that he had asked her out as a last resort. She left the dance feeling embarrassed, and she hadn’t been asked out since.

“Um…” she said, trying to decide if it was a good idea to go out with a complete stranger.

“Well?” he asked, a hopeful look in his eyes.

“I-I don’t know. I mean…you barely know me and I barely know you. We’ve talked for, like, a total of four minutes in the past few days, and yet you’re asking me out?” she finally said. It was true; they’d barely spoken at all since they’d met.

“Yeah, but I mean…you seem nice,” he said, though it sounded like there was more to it.

“You’ve decided that I’m nice from four minutes of interaction? I could be a total bitch, or you could be a total creep for all I know,” Camellia pointed out.

“I’m not a creep,” Louis insisted.

“You say that now, but how do I know for sure?” Camellia said, genuinely wanting to know.

Louis shrugged, a smirk falling onto his pale lips. “Guess you’ll have to go out with me in order to find out.”

Camellia sighed and pursed her lips as she thought over her decision. Louis did have a point – she would only be able to get an idea of what he was like if she went out with him, unless they decided to just hang out casually first. Louis didn’t seem to want that though, and she knew that if she suggested it, he would probably just cancel altogether. There was also the fact that Camellia hadn’t been on a date ever and she lacked experience. She wouldn’t count the dance with Freddy Limbowski as a date since she had left feeling embarrassed and he had barely even talked or danced with her. However, Louis was attractive. He had shaggy brown hair which swooped over his forehead, faint stubble that lined his chin and upper lip, and light blue eyes that almost seemed to flicker in the light. Louis also seemed sort of nice, although his straightforwardness did catch her off guard quite a bit. Camellia felt that Louis wouldn’t be that bad on a date…or at least hoped that he wouldn’t be.

After a moment of hesitation, she said, “Alright, I’ll go out with you.”

Louis’ eyes lit up at her answer and he smiled. “Great! Are you free tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, I usually am. I don’t do much on the weekends,” Camellia replied.

“Okay. So how about I pick you up around seven?” 

“Sure.”

“Great! Oh, can I get your number? It’ll be easier to find out where you live.” His eyes widened after he said that. “I didn’t mean for that to sound as creepy as it did.”

Camellia chuckled and nodded, pulling out her iPhone. Louis pulled his own phone out just as she unlocked hers. They exchanged phones and quickly put their numbers in each other’s contacts. Once they were done and had returned their phones to their respected owners, they said their goodbyes and parted ways.

Camellia looked down at her phone as she made her way towards the lineup. Her eyes landed on Louis’ contact name: Louis :P

Camellia smiled a little and locked her phone. As she reached the end of the line, she began to think about her date and what could happen. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but she hoped that the date would turn out alright.


	4. Chapter Four

Camellia sighed as she looked at a light blue blouse in her closet, inspecting it carefully. It was around four in the afternoon and she had approximately two hours until Louis said he would pick her up for their date. She knew it was a bit early to be getting ready, but this was her first date and she was extremely nervous. What if she fell over and embarrassed herself? What if she talked too much? What if she annoyed him? What if he wanted to have sex at the end? She wasn’t ready for that.

With a frustrated huff, she let go of the blouse’s sleeve and ran a hand through her light brown hair. Worrying wasn’t the best thing to do, she realized. She knew that she was overthinking a bit, but doesn’t everyone overthink their first date? She was also worried about what to wear for the date because she didn’t want to overdress or underdress. What if she wore a fancy dress and Louis ended up taking her bowling? What if she wore jeans and a nice T-shirt and Louis ended up taking her to a fancy restaurant? There were so many possibilities and they were all running through Camellia’s head like a river.

Camellia looked around her room and let out another sigh when seeing the pile of clothes on her bed. Shirts, pants, jeans, leggings, skirts, dresses, and even socks that she had tried on in different combinations laid on her bed in her “cute but not right for my first date” pile. At least half of her closet was in that pile.

“This is ridiculous,” Camellia said to herself. “I’m just going to call him and ask him what I should wear…Or would calling him be too weird? Eh, I’ll just text him instead.”

Grabbing her iPhone from her dresser, she unlocked it and went to her contacts. When she found Louis’ number, she quickly sent him a text.

Hey, what should I wear tonight? I don’t want to be overdressed or underdressed.

Almost immediately, she got a reply.

Something nice but not super fancy. A dress would probably be more appropriate for where we’re going. I’m sure you’ll look fine no matter what you wear.

 

Camellia nodded to herself and texted Louis a simple ‘thank you’. She locked her phone and went to her closet, searching for the few dresses she owned. Camellia wouldn’t say that she had tomboy fashion sense, she just didn’t own a lot of dresses. She preferred wearing jeans and leggings during the spring and shorts during the summer. Occasionally she would wear a skirt, but she only had a plain black one.

Searching through her dresses, her eyes landed on a blue one. It appeared to be strapless but had short, translucent sleeves. There was a ribbon that worked as a belt in the waist area and the dress ended a couple of inches above her knees. Camellia remembered buying the dress for an evening fundraiser hosted by RBC. All employees who went were required to wear blue, black or white to represent the bank’s colours. That night she had gotten a few compliments from co-workers she didn’t speak to often, most of them mentioning how the dress brought out the blue in her eyes. The dress was nice, but not overly fancy or formal. It was – hopefully – perfect for her date. However, she hadn’t shaved her armpits in a few weeks and she didn’t feel like shaving them just for one night. Her eyes landed on a black cardigan in her closet and she decided that she would wear that to hide her armpits. It would also make sense since it was winter and it was freezing outside.

Satisfied with her choice, she set the dress and cardigan aside and put all of her clothes away. Once that was done, she decided to take a bath to help her calm down before she got dressed and did her hair and makeup. Some people thought taking baths were weird and gross, but they were relaxing and great for when she was too tired to stand and clean herself. The warm water always relaxed her often tense muscles.

Camellia went to the bathroom and stripped down to nothing. She turned on the water and turned the knob to the red H on the left. She held her hand under the running water and waited until it was warm enough before stepping in and laying in the tub. Camellia tied her hair up as soon as she sat down in the tub, not wanting it to get wet. She had washed it the night before, so there was no point in getting it wet and having to spend an extra ten or more minutes blow-drying it.

The warm water slowly filled up the tub and soothed Camellia’s tense muscles. Baths were always calming for Camellia, even when she was a baby. Her parents told her that when she was little they would give her warm baths whenever she threw a tantrum or got upset over something. They said she would calm down almost immediately once they set her in the tub and ever since then she’s used baths as a way to relax.

After a few minutes, the bathtub was almost completely filled up, so Camellia turned off the water and leaned back against the back of the tub. Closing her eyes, she let her body relax into the warm water and let her worries about the date fade away.

*

An hour and a half later Camellia was hurriedly slipping into her dress. It was light and soft on her skin and hugged her waist in a way that made her boobs look slightly bigger than normal. Camellia debated wearing a different dress or even just changing her bra, but the dress fit her well and still looked good on her, which was a huge relief because she hadn’t worn that dress in over a year and she wasn’t sure if it would still fit. She also had only thirty minutes left until Louis said he would be there to take her out, so she couldn’t waste time.

After tying the ribbon in a knot at her back and shrugging on her loose black cardigan, she went to the bathroom to do her makeup. For a moment, she stared at her reflection and wondered how Louis could find someone like her attractive. She wasn’t super skinny, though she wasn’t considered ‘chubby’ either – not that there was anything wrong with either body size. Her eyes weren’t wide or big like most girls she knew, and they weren’t super bright. They were just plain, in her opinion. She was also short, about five foot four, and in most of the straight couples she’d ever seen, the girl was a little taller than her. Camellia didn’t have big boobs or a big butt either, and was pale.

Her phone vibrating shook her out of her negative thoughts. The iPhone screen lit up with a text from Louis.

On my way to pick you up. Should be there in about half an hour.

Camellia quickly responded with ‘okay’ and began to do her makeup. She applied concealer, liquid and powder foundation and blush, which was more than she usually wore. She then filled in her brows and attempted to put on a thin line of eyeliner. The line wasn’t as thin as she had hoped, but it was acceptable. By the time she finished putting on lipstick, it was exactly seven P.M. There was a knock on the door and Camellia knew it was Louis. She was surprised and impressed that he arrived exactly on time. Doing a quick once over, she nodded at her reflection in approval and rushed down the hall to the front door.

When she opened the front door, she was shocked to see Louis had brushed his hair back and was wearing a clean beige trench coat. It appeared as though he had shaved, making his cheekbones more prominent and making him look a little younger. He looked clean and handsome.

Louis smiled when he saw Camellia and shoved his hands in his coat pocket. “Hey.”

“Hey, come in. You must be freezing,” Camellia said, stepping aside to let him in. He thanked her and entered the house, shaking the snow off his shoulders as she did so. Camellia closed the door and said, “I just have to turn off everything and grab my purse, and then we can go. It’ll only take a minute or so.”

“Go right ahead,” Louis said.

“You can sit down if you want,” Camellia said, nodding her head towards the living room. “I’ll be back in a second.”

Camellia jogged down the hall and turned off her bedroom and bathroom lights, grabbing her phone in the process. Before she left the bathroom, she took one last look at her appearance to make sure she looked okay. When she figured she looked good enough, she turned off the light and went to the front foyer. She found a royal blue trench coat in her closet and a nice pair of black boots that stopped just a few inches below her knee and had short, wide heels. They were perfect for the outfit. She sat down and slipped on her boots, and as she put on her coat, Louis appeared in front of her.

“You’re ready?” he asked.

“Yep,” she said, grabbing her purse from the table by the door. “Let’s go.”

The two of them stepped outside, pausing so Camellia could lock her door, and walked down the pathway. A silver Range Rover was parked next to the sidewalk in front of Camellia’s house, and she was surprised to see that Louis owned it when he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door for her. Range Rovers were expensive to buy and pay insurance for, and she didn’t take Louis to be rich. She thanked him quietly and sat down, shivering when her bare legs touched the leather seats. Louis shut the door and jogged around the front of the car to the driver’s seat. Quickly, he climbed in and started the car, the engine purring once he began driving.

The two of them sat in silence for a while, neither of them knowing what to say to start a conversation. Camellia was shy and always found it difficult to start a conversation, even more so with strangers. She hated it.

“Why’re you staring at me?” Louis asked. He turned to look at Camellia for a moment, smirk prominent on his face.

Camellia blinked, not even realizing that she had been staring at him. “Oh. Uh…sorry.”

Louis looked at the road again and chuckled softly. “You didn’t do anything wrong, love. No need to apologize,” he told her.

Camellia blushed and looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap. “Okay.” She was annoyed that she had already embarrassed herself and they had only been in the car for a few minutes.

Seeming to have sensed her embarrassment, Louis said, “Relax, okay? There’s no need to be embarrassed.” Louis paused and smirked again. “I mean, I’m a pretty good looking guy, am I right?” His tone told Camellia that he was joking.

Camellia smiled slightly and chuckled. “Yeah, I guess.”

“You guess?” Louis said in a mock hurt voice. “I’m offended. I happen to think I am very good looking.”

Camellia laughed quietly and said, “Okay, you are good looking. Are you happy now?”

“Very.”

“Egotistical, I see,” Camellia joked. However, Louis didn’t seem to think it was funny because as soon as she said those words his whole face fell and he was glaring at her.

“I’m not egotistical. Don’t call me that,” he snapped. Camellia gulped, all sense of humor evaporating from the atmosphere.

“S-Sorry…” Camellia stuttered, feeling nervous under Louis’ glare.

Louis closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. When he opened them, he looked at the road again and shook his head to himself.

“Sorry,” Louis apologized, voice much calmer now than it was seconds ago. “I get a little sensitive when people call me that. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“I-It’s okay,” Camellia stuttered, although she was still freaked out by Louis’ sudden mood change.

Louis shook his head. “No it wasn’t, but whatever. Let’s just forget it, yeah?”

Camellia nodded and leaned back in her seat, focusing her gaze on her hands and taking deep breaths to try and calm down. Maybe this date wasn’t a good idea after all, she thought.

Louis looked at her briefly and saw that she wasn’t looking at him anymore. He looked down at her hands and saw that they were trembling faintly, and he sighed, frustrated with himself. Now Camellia was scared and that was the last thing he wanted. If only he had controlled himself and hadn’t snapped at her.

“Cam – wait, can I call you Cam?” Louis asked. He saw her nod from the corner of his eye. “Okay. Cam, I’m sorry for snapping at you, okay? I don’t want you to be nervous around me.”

Camellia nodded and said, “Okay,” quietly.

Louis sighed again, sensing that she was still a little scared of him. Instead of trying to force her not to be scared of him, he focused on driving. He just hoped that he could get her to open up to him once they arrived at the restaurant.

*

Camellia’s eyes widened when Louis pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant they were eating at. It wasn’t super fancy or expensive, but the bank had had their fundraiser there the other year and she remembered how good the food was. She had always wanted to go back and have a meal there, but she didn’t make a lot of money and it wasn’t the cheapest place to eat. Plus, she didn’t have a reason to go or anyone to go with.

“You coming?” Louis asked, and that was when Camellia realized that Louis was holding her door open for her.

“Oh yeah, sorry,” she said, stepping out of the car and grabbing her purse.

Louis closed the door for her and they began walking through the snow towards the building. Some of the snow had melted the previous night, so there wasn’t as much snow on the ground as usual. However, there was ice and Camellia almost fell twice as they walked towards the building. Luckily, Louis had caught her both times, one arm supporting her upper back and his other hand grabbing her shoulder. After she almost fell the second time, Louis kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders for in case she almost fell again. Camellia didn’t admit it, but Louis’ arm felt oddly nice wrapped around her. She almost felt comforted by the simple gesture.

When the two of them entered the restaurant, Camellia looked around at the familiar décor. The walls were orangey-beige with lights evenly distributed across them. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the little lights creating faint patterns on the ceiling. Small, circular tables that were evenly spread apart stood against the walls, each of them holding a glass vase full of red roses. The wooden floor appeared to be well polished, and Camellia could almost see her reflection.

“Hi. We have a reservation under Louis Tomlinson,” Louis said to the host.

The black man smiled at them, grabbing two menus and saying, “Follow me.”

The host led them to a table in the middle of the restaurant and placed their menus down. It was a small square table, big enough for two people. A white table cloth had been placed neatly on the table. Louis rushed forward and pulled out Camellia’s chair, giving her a soft smile. She returned the smile and took off her trench coat before sitting down. Louis helped her tuck in her chair and took her coat from her, hanging it on the back of the chair for her. She wanted to protest and say she could do it herself, but she felt that would be rude because Louis was just trying to be polite.

Once her coat was situated on the chair, Louis shrugged off his own coat, hung it on the back of his chair, and took a seat across from her.

“A waiter will be with you shortly,” the host said, giving them another smile before walking off.

Louis opened his menu and skimmed through it, pursing his lips in thought. Camellia did the same, eyes widening slightly at the prices of the food. She knew the place wasn’t cheap, but geez, twenty dollars for a bottle of wine?

“What are you thinking of getting?” Louis asked.

Camellia shrugged, saying, “I don’t know. I’ve been here before, once, but I don’t remember everything being this expensive.”

Louis shrugged and continued looking through the menu. “It’s not that bad.” Camellia could tell that he was lying though, judging the look on his face.

“Louis, you didn’t have to take me to some fancy restaurant to impress me,” she told him.

Louis looked up from his menu at that. “Really?” he asked.

Camellia nodded her head. “Yeah. I didn’t expect you to spend a lot of money on expensive food. I would’ve been fine with seeing a movie,” she told him.

Louis let out a breath and put the menu down. “Well that’s nice to hear. I was worried I would have to pay twenty dollars for wine.”

“Yeah, that’s a bit ridiculous,” Camellia commented quietly. “I don’t drink anyway, so you wouldn’t have had to worry about that.”

Louis nodded and looked at his menu again. “Well, the salmon looks good.”

Camellia nodded and felt relieved when she saw the price. “It is. I had it last time I was here, and it was delicious. It’s not overpriced either.”

Louis nodded in agreement as a waitress came over. “Good evening. My name is Bella and I’ll be serving you this evening. Would you like to start off with any drinks?” she said in a posh voice.

“I’ll have tea,” Louis said. He looked at Camellia and said, “What would you like to drink, love?”

Camellia blushed faintly at the pet name and said to the waitress, “I’ll just have a water, thanks.”

“Okay. Do you need more time to order?” she asked, writing down their drinks on a notepad.

“I’ll have the salmon,” Louis said.

“Same here,” Camellia added.

The waitress wrote down their orders and gave them both a smile. “Alright, I’ll be back in a few minutes with your drinks.” She took their menus and walked off towards the kitchen.

Once the waitress was gone, Louis and Camellia looked at each other for a moment. Camellia noticed that Louis was wearing a gray tuxedo, and even though she couldn’t see all of his body, she could see that it hugged his upper body in just the right way so that she could see his muscles faintly. He wore a white dress shirt that was buttoned up to his neck. Looking at Louis and taking in the scenery around them, Camellia felt like she was in a movie.

“So…” Louis said, catching her attention, “tell me about yourself.”

Camellia shrugged, leaning back in her seat slightly. “There isn’t much to tell.”

“I’m sure that’s a lie,” Louis responded, raising an eyebrow at her. He rested his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his fists, looking like he was examining her. “C’mon, there’s got to be something.”

“Alright,” Camellia said. After thinking for a second, she said, “Well, I work at the RBC by the Tim Hortons we met at.”

“Hm, cool. Do you live with anyone?” Louis asked.

“No, I’ve lived alone since I moved here,” Camellia answered.

“How long have you lived here? And why would you move here of all places?” Louis asked.

“I moved here sometime in 2012 or 2013. I can’t remember which year. And I moved here because I was up to my knees in student loans and my parents were moving to Alberta so I had to find a cheap place,” Camellia answered. “I noticed your accent. You’re from England, right?”

“Yeah,” Louis said with a nod. “Where did you live before you moved here?”

“Toronto,” Camellia answered. “I wanted to live somewhere that wasn’t so busy, and I felt that Greyview would be peaceful enough. Turns out it’s too peaceful.”

Louis chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. “True.”

“Where in England are you from?” Camellia asked.

Louis tensed at that, but then let out a breath and said, “Doncaster. It’s in South Yorkshire.”

“Cool. My older brother lives in England, actually. Last time I spoke to him, I think he said he was living with his boyfriend in London.”

“Oh…That’s good. London is really nice, but super busy,” Louis said.

“Why did you move to Canada?” Camellia asked, glad that Louis didn’t make any comments on her brother being gay. “I mean, it’s so far from your home.”

Louis tensed again. “I needed a change.”

Camellia raised her eyebrows, but nodded anyway. “Okay…Do you have any siblings?”

“Yeah, I have seven younger siblings,” Louis answered, a faint smiling falling onto his face. Camellia’s eyes widened.

“Holy…seven siblings? And all of them were younger than you?” Camellia said, shocked.

“Yeah, but they’re all half-siblings.”

“What are their names?” Camellia asked.

Louis smiled again. “My sister Lottie is the oldest of my sisters. She’s turning eighteen in August. Then there’s Felicite, but we call her Fizzy. She’s turning sixteen in August as well. Then there’s Daisy and Phoebe, they’re twins. They turn twelve later this month. My youngest siblings are Ernest and Doris, who’re also twins. They were born two years ago back in February,” Louis answered. His face fell then, and he said sadly, “I haven’t been able to meet them.”

“Aww, that’s so sad. Why?” Camellia asked.

“Can’t afford to fly back to England and my mum’s busy all the time,” Louis answered.

“Aww…wait, you said you have seven siblings. You only mentioned six.”

“Yeah, there’s also Georgia, she’s seventeen. We have the same dad while my other sisters share the same mum. I don’t really talk to her much,” Louis said.

“Oh…okay,” Camellia said.

The waitress came over then, placing their drinks on the table gently. They thanked her and she smiled before walking away.

“You never said your brother’s name,” Louis said suddenly.

“Carter,” she answered.

“Why did he move to England?” Louis asked.

“He’s a journalist for some magazine there,” Camellia replied.

“That’s cool,” Louis said. He paused for a moment, then said softly, “I hope to visit England again someday.”

There was something in Louis’ eyes that said there was more to his words than he was letting on. He almost looked sad and sorrowful, but Camellia didn’t know what for. However, she didn’t ask him, figuring it was a bit too personal.

“I hope so too,” she said softly.

*

“I think the next Doctor should be a woman,” Camellia said firmly, taking a sip from her water afterwards.

Louis’ eyes widened and he shook his head. “No, it should be a man. The Doctor has been a man throughout the whole show – why should they change it now?”

It had been two hours since Louis and Camellia had arrived at the restaurant. After learning about each other’s siblings, they went on to discuss other topics, such as favourite music genre and books and movies and television shows. Camellia learned that Louis loved The Fray and Adele, he didn’t read a lot so he didn’t have a favourite book, his favourite movie was Forest Gump and that he loved Doctor Who. Camellia was also a Doctor Who fan and they had been talking about the show since he mentioned it. They were currently in a debate about whether or not the next Doctor should be a woman.

“Because the show was made in a time where women were not seen as equal to men,” Camellia argued. “We live in a society where men and women are both equal now. I mean, it’s getting repetitive, having a skinny white guy as the Doctor and some pretty girl as his companion. It would be nice to have a change.”

“I guess that’s true, but they could just make the Doctor black or Asian,” Louis argued.

“Ugh, you don’t get it. If you were a woman, you’d probably understand.”

Louis chuckled and shook his head, a fond smile on his face. The dim lighting in the room brought out the contours of Louis’ face marvellously. Camellia once again realized that Louis was extremely attractive.

“Sorry, love, but I’m not a woman,” Louis apologized jokingly.

Camellia chuckled. “I know. I’m not blind, you know.”

Louis gasped in mock-surprise and put a hand to his heart. “Really?”

This time, Camellia laughed and shook her head, smiling at Louis. She wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood up, saying, “I’m going to the washroom. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Louis nodded. “Okay.”

Camellia left her seat and began weaving between the tables as she made her way towards the sign that said WASHROOMS. One table she passed seated a group of men who appeared to be in their late forties to early fifties. They were all staring at her not-so-subtly and it was making Camellia uncomfortable. She tried to ignore them though. However, that proved to be impossible when one of them suddenly smacked her butt – hard. She squeaked out of shock and slight pain and stumbled forward, temporarily losing her balance. Once she caught it, she turned around and faced the group of men. They were all smirking at her and one man was licking his lips. Camellia assumed that he was the one who smacked her.

“Nice arse,” he said, winking at her. Camellia shivered, disgusted by this man and his behaviour.

“Oi!” she heard someone yell. Camellia immediately recognized it to be Louis’ voice. Louis stormed over to the table, fists clenched and face twisted in anger. He shoved the man’s shoulder once he reached the table. “Don’t touch her like that!” he snapped.

The man rolled his eyes and said, “Sorry.”

Louis seemed to get even angrier at that. “You just smacked her arse and all you’ve to say is ‘sorry’?”

“Louis…please calm down,” Camellia said, not wanting all the attention. Sure, she was mad at the guy for touching her inappropriately, but Louis announcing it to the whole restaurant wasn’t helping at all.

“No! He had no right to touch you like that!” Louis snapped. He glared at the man again. “Stay away from her, got it?”

“What’re you gonna do if I don’t?” the man asked tauntingly, standing up as he spoke. He was a couple feet taller than Louis and much broader than him.

“This,” Louis said before swinging his fist at him, hitting him right in the jaw. Louis hit the man hard enough to knock him over, causing him to fall onto the table.

“Louis!” Camellia gasped, eyes widening in shock.

Louis didn’t seem to hear her. He picked the guy up by the collar of his shirt and brought him close. He punched him again and again and again before the other guy managed to hit Louis back. Louis stumbled back, and the guy punched him again, making Louis fall back onto the floor. Camellia heard herself yell Louis’ name. The man climbed up on top of Louis and began punching him repeatedly.

A crowd began to form around the pair, gasps and murmurs erupting from the crowd. Camellia heard someone yell for a staff member to do something.

Louis suddenly rolled them over, growling and pounding the guys face repeatedly. She saw that the man’s face was beginning to swell and bleed and he wasn’t even fighting back now. He appeared to be unconscious. Camellia decided that Louis had gone too far and that enough was enough. She walked over and firmly placed her hand on Louis’ shoulder.

“Louis,” she said firmly. Louis just shrugged her hand off and continued hitting the guy. She put her hand on his shoulder again and shook it. “Louis, enough! Stop it!”

“What’s going on in here?” someone suddenly yelled. Everyone looked over and saw an employee rushing over to the crowd. He pushed through the crowd and ran over to the pair fighting on the floor. He grabbed Louis’ arm and roughly pulled him off the man. Louis struggled in the employees grip and growled.

“Let me go!” Louis growled.

“Louis, please calm down,” Camellia pleaded.

Louis looked at Camellia, his eyes dark and flaring with anger. His face relaxed once he saw her and he stopped struggling. The anger faded from his eyes and he let out a breath. The employee tugged him away from the beaten man.

“You need to leave. Now,” the employee said angrily. “We will not tolerate violence.”

“Alright, alright,” Louis said with a sigh, shaking his arms off. “Just let me pay for our food.”

*

Louis pulled up to Camellia’s house and sighed, cutting the engine off. He looked at Camellia, who was staring out the window, trying to avoid Louis’ stare. “Listen, I’m sorry about tonight…I lost my cool.”

Camellia nodded, still not looking at Louis. “It’s okay.”

“No it’s not,” Louis said with an irritated huff. “I shouldn’t gone that far. I know I embarrassed you and I’m sorry.”

Camellia sighed and finally looked at Louis. “It’s fine. Let’s just forget about it. I need to get inside.”

“Alright,” Louis said as she began opening the door. “I’ll see you tomor-” Camellia shut the car door before Louis could finish. She turned around and waved before rushing inside. 

Camellia quickly locked the door once she was inside, leaning her back against it and sighing. The sound of a car engine starting caught her attention and it was followed by a car driving off. She looked out the window and saw Louis’ car driving off. Sighing again, she thought about the events that happened less than an hour ago.

What the hell was that?

Why did Louis seem to just lose control? He nearly beat that man to death. After Louis had calmed down, an employee called 911 and asked for a paramedic. An ambulance came just as Louis and Camellia left.

Deciding that she just wanted to forget about that night, Camellia went to her room and decided to go to bed.


	5. Chapter Five

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Camellia groaned in protest and pulled her blanket over her head, trying to ignore the blaring of her alarm and go back to sleep. It persisted for a minute before she finally lifted the covers from her head and turned it off. The blaring stopped abruptly and Camellia huffed in annoyance. Now she had to get up and go to work, which meant spending another day working at the boring bank in the boring town of Greyview. Oh joy.

Throwing the covers off of her, she sat up and got out of bed, stretching her arms briefly. Her eyes landed on the dress she wore the other night. It hung off the edge of her laundry basket, where she had carelessly thrown it after changing out of it when she got home. Her black cardigan sat on the floor by the basket.

Camellia sighed and thought back to the date with Louis. Everything had been going so well. They were talking and laughing and getting to know each other. Louis was so nice to her and was actually really funny. He kept making jokes that had Camellia biting her fist to keep herself from laughing loud enough to draw attention. Not once did Camellia think he would lash out like that when the guy slapped her butt. Sure, she was glad he stood up for her, but he didn’t need to get into a full on fist fight with the guy. That was too much.

One thing that freaked Camellia out was his eyes. While he was fighting the other man, Camellia could have sworn that his eyes flashed for a moment. When he looked at her, she thought his irises had a bright yellow tint, but they went back to normal before she could get a good look at them. It was strange. It was probably just the lighting, Camellia thought to herself. It had to be the lighting. How else could Louis’ eyes go from blue to yellow and back to blue so quickly?

Camellia decided to not think about the date. It ended horribly and she just wanted to pretend that it never happened.

Camellia’s phone vibrated on her nightstand. She picked it up and saw a text from her friend Liam Payne.

Liam Payne was Camellia’s only friend in Greyview. They met when Camellia started working at the bank. She was having trouble with a computer and Liam stepped in to help her. The two of them began talking frequently after that and eventually became friends. They stuck together at the bank and both enjoyed watching Harry Potter and Doctor Who.

Hey, I was thinking we could go out for lunch today or something. My treat.

Camellia smiled and shook her head. Liam was too sweet sometimes. If he had been born in Canada – he was born in England – Liam would fit the Canadian stereotype perfectly; at least in the extreme politeness and kindness aspect.

Sure! But I’m paying for my food.

Alright.

Camellia locked her phone and put it on her nightstand. She stood up and decided to just go to Tim Hortons for breakfast rather than make something herself. She felt lazy that morning and didn’t want to put in the effort to make herself something to eat.

Going to her closet, she pulled out a dark blue fitted sweater and a white woolen scarf. She then grabbed a pair of black leggings from her dresser and changed into her clothes. Normally it would be too cold to walk outside in leggings, but weather reports had said that it was going to warm up in Greyview the night before. Camellia was happy because she was running out of clean jeans and hadn’t done her laundry yet. She made a mental note to do her laundry that night.

Once she was dressed, she went to the bathroom and did her usual morning routine. Wash her face. Moisturize her face. Brush her hair. Brush her teeth. She put her hair up in a ponytail, which she didn’t normally do, but she hadn’t washed her hair in a couple days and it was getting thin and slightly greasy. One of the reasons she hated her hair. She did her makeup afterwards, putting on minimal foundation and mascara.

After she was finished getting ready, she gathered her belongings and left her tiny house. It was still dark outside, but daylight savings were nearing, so it was lighter out than it had been in the past few months. Mr. Horal was outside as usual, throwing salt across his porch and the concrete pathway leading to his house. It had snowed the other night and the roads and sidewalks were once again icy.

Mr. Horal saw Camellia and paused, smiling and waving as he hollered, “Good morning, Camellia.”

“Morning Mr. Horal,” she greeted, walking over to the fence in front of his house. The home was similar in size and shape to Camellia’s, except it was older and surrounded by a white picket fence.

“What’re you doing out so early in the morning? Don’t you usually leave a little later?” he asked, folding his arms and resting them on the handle of his shovel.

“Felt like going to Timmy’s this morning. You know how busy they are,” Camellia replied.

“Alright. Nice seeing you, Cam. Come over sometime, eh? Donna’s been meaning to invite you over for tea.”

“Will do, Mr. Horal. Have a good day!”

“You too.”

Camellia waved goodbye to Mr. Horal and continued trekking down the icy sidewalk.

*

Can we talk?

Camellia sighed and locked her phone, shoving it in her desk drawer. Louis had been texting her consistently throughout the day, asking her if they could talk and saying that he was sorry about the date. Camellia didn’t even know if it was really a date.

Okay, it was, she just didn’t want to admit it because it went downhill.

The phone vibrated again, and Camellia huffed in annoyance. She didn’t want to talk to Louis and he didn’t seem to get that. And she was at work, so she couldn’t text him even if she wanted to. Her boss could see her and she could get in trouble. Trouble is not something she wanted.

“Hey,” a familiar voice said in a British accent. Camellia looked up, smiling when she saw it was Liam.

Liam was a fairly good-looking guy. He was well built, his biceps and triceps noticeable with almost any shirt, jacket or sweater he wore. He was also pretty tall, nearly six feet tall, Camellia guessed. He had short brown hair that he often styled into a quiff and dark stubble lining his jaw and upper lip. Liam also had warm brown eyes that reminded Camellia of chocolate whenever she looked into them and put her in a momentary haze…okay so she had a slight crush on her best friend. It was only recently when these feelings developed and she knew they would go away. She always found him attractive, anyway.

“Hey Liam,” she greeted. “How was your weekend?”

“Eh, uneventful as usual.” Liam shrugged. “How was yours?”

Camellia shrugged, trying not to show her discomfort as memories of her date with Louis came to mind. “Eh…interesting.”

“Ooh, that’s something,” Liam said, knowing that it took a lot for Camellia to say her weekend was something other than ‘boring’. “Do tell.”

“At lunch,” Camellia promised. She needed to talk to someone about the date, just so she could get it off her chest. “I promise.”

“Great. See you in half an hour.” With a wave and a smile, he went to his office and went back to whatever he was doing before.

Camellia opened up a document she had been working on Friday and continued making her reports. As she typed, the strange feeling she had gotten less than a week ago came back to her. It was so sudden and Camellia didn’t know why it returned now of all times. She wasn’t doing anything interesting, and nothing interesting was happening around her. It was strange and foreign and she didn’t know how to cope with the strange feeling.

Suddenly, someone spoke to her. “Camellia.”

Camellia recognized that voice.

“Louis…” she said, giving him a polite smile. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” he answered. He was wearing Adidas pants and a thick black winter coat. His facial hair had grown out since their date, making him look less like the clean and charming man she had seen throughout the majority of their date and more like the stranger who asked her out in the middle of Walmart. He still looked handsome, though.

“About what? I’m at work, Louis.”

“About our date,” Louis said, stepping closer to the counter.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she said. She just wanted him to leave. “How did you even find me?”

“You told me where you worked.”

“Oh…” Camellia said. “Right.”

“Can we please talk?” Louis asked.

“I’m a work,” Camellia repeated. “I’m busy.”

“You don’t look busy.”

“Well, a customer could come over any minute. I need to be ready to help them. If my boss sees me talking to someone and I’m not helping them, I could get fired.”

Louis sighed. “Please?”

Camellia huffed in frustration and finally gave in. “Make it quick.”

“I’m sorry about the date,” Louis apologized. “I embarrassed you and got us kicked out and I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, Louis,” Camellia said, half lying. “It’s over with. Let’s just forget about it, alright?”

“Let me take you on another date,” Louis suggested. “I want to make it up to you.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

Louis shook his head, brushing off her statement. “I want to. Please? I promise I won’t do anything like that again.”

“I don’t know…” Camellia said, unsure. She agreed once and Louis got them kicked out. What if she agreed again and he did something similar?

“Please?” Louis pleaded. His blue eyes shone with desperation. Camellia wanted to say no, but something within her wouldn’t let her.

Hesitantly, she said, “Fine.”

Louis looked excited. “Really?”

“Yes. We’ll talk more about it later. Now go, I have customers,” Camellia said, seeing the line forming behind Louis.

“Thanks, Cam,” Louis said happily. He smiled and waved before taking off, rushing out the door.

Camellia shook her head, wondering if she made the right decision. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and began helping customers, putting a smile on her face.


	6. Chapter Six

A few hours later, Camellia was sitting on her couch with her laptop on her lap. She had been checking her emails and was currently replying to one she received from her supervisor at work. It was an email about another banquet the bank was hosting in a month or so and they were asking who could come. Camellia figured she would go, considering she had nothing else to do and she knew it would be an excuse to dress up and go out.

Once she finished her email and clicked send, a familiar ringing came through the speakers. The Skype icon came up and she opened it. She checked the caller ID and smiled when she saw it was her older brother, Carter. Quickly, she clicked the green answer icon and waited for the screen to load.

Seconds passed before a slightly pixelated image of her brother came up on the screen. It had been months since she’d seen her brother, nearly a year, but he hadn’t changed much – physically, that is. His brown hair still sat shaggy on his head, swooping to the left like it always did. He still wore the same glasses that made his dark blue eyes look a little bigger. His smile was still warm and welcoming. Camellia felt that Carter’s smile was his best feature.

“Hey,” she said, smiling at her older brother.

“Hello,” he said in the same tone. Camellia noticed he spoke with a very faint British accent.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I wanted to check in and see how you’ve been. We haven’t talked in a while and I miss seeing your face.”

“Aww,” she cooed. “And nothing much has happened.”

Carter shook his head in disbelief. “Come on, that can’t be true. It’s been, what, almost a year since we last saw each other? A lot happens in a year.”

Camellia chuckled and gave her brother a knowing look. “You know how it is in Greyview, Carter. Literally nothing happens here.”

“I still say something has to have happened,” Carter insisted.

Camellia sat and pondered for a moment before saying, “Well, there’s been an animal attack recently. Apparently the last time someone was attacked by an animal was about twenty years ago.”

Carter’s eyes widened. “Damn, that sucks. Has anyone seen the animal? Do they even know what it is?” he asked.

Camellia shrugged, answering, “I don’t know. I’ve heard people think it’s a wolf.”

“Wow…” Carter shook his head. “Anyway, what else is new?”

“Well…” Camellia trailed off, trying to think of news that were worthy of her brother’s time. “I went on my first date the other night.”

Carter’s eyes narrowed and his shoulders squared. “Who’s the guy?”

“Calm down, bro,” Camellia said, chuckling and rolling her eyes at her brother’s protectiveness. “His name is Louis. He’s nice and he took me out to a nice restaurant in the middle of town. He’s originally from England. Oh, he likes Doctor Who too, which is great.” Camellia left out the part where Louis got in a fight and got them kicked out of the restaurant, not wanting her brother to get upset. “We’re going on another date soon.”

“Well that’s good. Does he treat you right?” he asked.

“Yes, he does. Like I said, he’s nice and he’s very polite. I think you’d like him.”

Carter nodded. Suddenly, the sound of a door opening and closing caught his attention and he looked to the side. A smile graced his face.

“‘Ello love,” she heard a male voice say in an English accent.

“Hey babe,” Carter greeted, reaching a hand out. Another figure came onto the screen. All she saw was the second man’s torso before he bent down and kissed Carter on the lips. It was brief and Camellia couldn’t see his face properly due to the low quality image and his long hair.

Right, Carter has a boyfriend, Camellia remembered.

“Who’re you talking to?” Carter’s boyfriend said, standing up straight and putting a hand on Carter’s shoulder.

“My little sister, Camellia. I told her about you, remember?” Carter said, looking up at his boyfriend, who had yet to be seen.

“Right!” He suddenly kneeled down, his face level with Carter’s. She couldn’t see much of him except pale skin and dark curly brown hair that fell to his shoulders. “Hello Camellia,” he greeted. He smiled at her, causing two dimples to appear.

Damn, Camellia thought. From what she could see of him, he appeared very attractive.

“Hi,” she replied, smiling and waving.

“Cam, this is Harry, my boyfriend,” Carter said, looking both nervous and excited.

“I figured. It’s nice to meet you, Harry,” Camellia said politely.

“Nice to meet you too,” he said. He looked at Carter and said, “I’m gonna get started on dinner. How does pasta sound?”

“It sounds lovely,” Carter answered.

“Great. It was nice meeting you, Camellia,” Harry said before pecking Carter on the lips and walking off, presumable to the kitchen.

Carter turned back to the computer, a shy smile on his face and a faint blush tinting his cheeks. “Well?” he asked.

Camellia ruffled her eyebrows. “Well what?”

“What do you think?” he asked nervously. “Do you like him?”

Camellia chuckled at her brother’s anxiousness and nodded. “Relax, will you? And to answer your question, yes, I like him. I mean, we’ve literally just met and only talked for about ten seconds, but he seems pretty cool.”

Carter looked relieved as he sat back in his chair. “Thank goodness. I was worried it was going to be awkward.”

“It was a little awkward, but there was no way of making it not awkward.”

“That’s true, I guess.” Carter shrugged. “Hey, I was wondering if I could come down for a visit. We haven’t seen each other in forever!”

“I’d love that!” Camellia replied. She was already excited. “I don’t have a spare bedroom though, so I hope you don’t mind taking the couch.”

“Actually…” Carter bit his lip, a nervous habit of his. “I was wondering if it would be okay if Harry came along. We’ve been together for over a year now and I really would love for you to meet him.”

Camellia nodded in agreement. “Well I’d love to meet him too. I mean, I’d love to meet him in person. Of course he can come. But like I said, I don’t have a spare bedroom or anything so it’s the couch for you guys.”

“Didn’t you take the air mattress with you when you moved?” Carter asked.

Camellia nodded in notification. “Ah, right! It’s somewhere around here. I’ll dig it up before you come. When are you coming, anyway?”  
“Harry and I were thinking we could come down on Saturday and leave a week later. We both have time off work that week,” Carter answered.

“Sure! I do have to work during the week, but I can try and get some time off. We really need to catch up!”

“Great.” Camellia heard another voice shout something in the background and Carter looked to the side, nodding. He looked back to the camera and said. “Harry needs my help with dinner. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Yeah, of course!” Camellia said. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” And with that, the Skype call ended.

Camellia leaned back in her chair, smiling and feeling excited. She already couldn’t wait for her brother to come down on Saturday. Additionally, she couldn’t wait to meet Harry. Though she didn’t know much about him, he seemed nice and was definitely attractive. She couldn’t wait to officially meet the man her brother’s been living with for almost two years.

Suddenly, her phone started vibrating next to her. She picked it up and saw that Louis was calling her. Hesitantly, she answered the phone (she was still a little uncomfortable talking to him after the date).

“Hello?”

“Cam, hey!” Louis greeted in a cheery voice. “I was wondering if Friday night would be good for our date.”

“Uh, sure,” Camellia agreed. “I can’t stay too late, though. My brother’s coming over for a visit on Saturday and I’ll need to clean up before he comes over.”

“Yeah, alright. I was thinking the date could be at my place, yeah?” Louis suggested.

Camellia’s eyes widened and she asked, trying not to stutter, “Uh…what would we do at your house?”

“Have some dinner, watch a movie or something on Netflix,” Louis answered. Camellia gulped as the famous saying ‘Netflix and chill’ came to mind. She was not sleeping with Louis if he really wanted to ‘Netflix and chill’. She didn’t like the idea of having sex on the first or second date, and she was also a virgin. She wasn’t ready yet.

“Um…sure, I guess.”

“Great! How does six-thirty sound?” Louis asked.

“S-Sounds good.”

Camellia internally cursed herself for stuttering and hoped that Louis hadn’t noticed it. He did, however, and asked, “You alright?”

“Oh, yeah…yeah, I’m fine.” Camellia chuckled nervously. “Well, I’ve got to get back to work. Lots of emails. Work sucks, you know? I’ll see you Friday.” 

Before Louis could say anything else, she ended the call and dropped her phone next to her on the couch. She let out a breath and dragged her hands down her face. Her hands shook slightly with nerves as she thought about the possibilities of what could happen on this date. What if Louis got mad and lost his temper with her? What if Louis wanted to ‘Netflix and chill’? Whatever happened, Camellia hoped that things would go well. She wasn’t going to go out with Louis again if this date went downhill.

Sighing to herself, she closed her laptop and decided to worry about the date on Friday. No matter what happened, she knew that Friday would be an interesting day for her.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just realized that I never posted chapter seven and eight on here. Sorry for the wait everyone!

Camellia anxiously fixed her hair in front of the mirror as she waited for Louis to pick her up for their second date. She hadn’t done anything special with it, but she didn’t want to look like a fool. Louis said that she should dress in comfortable clothes, so she decided to wear plain black leggings and a light blue knitted sweater with sleeves that went just past her fingertips. Her feet were donned in a pair of comfortable cabin socks to keep her feet warm. She didn’t bother redoing her makeup, not having the effort to and not wanting to look like she was trying too hard.

Camellia was nervous about this date. It wouldn’t be in public like their last date was, so at least they couldn’t get kicked out if something happened. But it was at Louis’ place…What if he wanted to have sex? This thought had been worrying her over the past few days and she wasn’t sure if she should bring it up to Louis. She didn’t want to risk making things awkward if she brought it up and Louis said he wasn’t planning on doing anything sexual with her. However, she didn’t want Louis to assume things either.

Her gaze moved to her iPhone as it vibrated, the screen lighting up and her brother’s name popping up. 

Hey, I know this is last minute, but Harry and I aren’t able to visit this week. We’re both needed at work and we won’t be able to come down for another week or so. Sorry 

Camellia frowned in disappointment, but she understood. They were needed at work, and she didn’t want them to get in trouble for not going. She texted him back.

It’s fine, don’t worry. Let me know when you can come!

The doorbell rang, catching Camellia’s attention. Quickly, she turned off the bathroom light and ran to the front door, pulling it open and smiling at Louis. He wore his thick winter coat and a grey toque on his head, making his bangs stick to his forehead a bit.

“Hello.” He smiled.

“Hi. Come in.” She opened the door further and stood aside to allow Louis entrance. “I just need to put on my boots and we can get going.” She was already wearing her winter coat.  
Louis nodded and Camellia quickly put on her Sorrel winter boots. Once they were on, she grabbed her keys, shoved her phone in her pocket, and opened the door for Louis. They both exited the house.

“So I forgot to buy snacks for the movie. All I have is microwavable popcorn. If you want anything else, we can stop buy a supermarket quickly,” Louis said as Camellia locked the door.

Turning to face Louis, she said, “I think that’s good. You said we’re having dinner, right?”

“Yeah. I have some stuff I can make unless you want to order pizza or something,” Louis offered. The two of them were walking to Louis’ car at this point.

Camellia shrugged. “I’m cool with either or. Whatever you want to do is fine with me. If you do decide to cook, just know that I absolutely despise salad.”

Louis chuckled and used his fob to unlock the car. The front lights flashed when he unlocked it. “Good to know. Care to explain why you despise salad?” Louis asked as he opened the door for Camellia.

Camellia thanked him and climbed in before saying, “It’s flavourless and it’s just…I don’t know, I just don’t like it.”

Louis closed her door and jogged around the front of the car to the driver’s seat. He opened the door and sat down. Once he closed it, he said, “You can add salad dressing and other vegetables to it though,” as he put on his seat belt.

Camellia mimicked his actions, pulling the strap over her shoulder and chest and buckling it in by her opposite hip. “I know, but I hate most salad dressings and even with vegetables it just…I don’t know. I don’t like it and I never have.”

Louis chuckled again and put the key in the ignition. The car roared to life and the engine purred as Louis put the car in drive. “Alright, I won’t argue with you anymore.”

“Yay, I won!” Camellia said in fake excitement. She clapped her hands in an excited manner to add emphasis. Louis chuckled once again, checked to make sure no other cars or pedestrians were coming, then drove away from Camellia’s house.

It was silent for a minute as Louis drove through the streets of Greyview. It was dark outside and the streets were somewhat desolate. Everyone had been worried about the wolf and avoided going outside as much as possible, especially in the dark. Some stores were still open, lights shining through the glass windows and hitting the pavement, making squares of various shades of yellow and orange. A half-moon shone above the town, a few clouds dimming its light.

“So what do you want to eat? Should I cook or order food?” Louis asked. His eyes remained focused on the road as he asked her the question.

Once again, Camellia shrugged. “I feel like I should say I want you to cook something, but if I’m being honest, I’ve been craving pizza all day. Pizza and a movie sounds really good right now.”

Louis nodded. He looked almost relieved. “That sounds good to me too. If I’m being honest, I’m not the greatest cook out there. I’m not horrible, but I’m not fantastic. I was just going to cook spaghetti and meatballs because…I don’t know, it seems kind of romantic? Like Lady and the Tramp, you know?”

Camellia blushed at the thought of re-enacting the scene from Lady and the Tramp where they shared a noodle and their lips met in the middle. That would certainly be interesting. However, the thought of kissing Louis did cause butterflies to erupt in her stomach.

“That’s cute,” Camellia commented.

It was dark out, but Camellia swore she saw Louis’ cheeks flush pink. “Yeah, I guess.” He had a shy smile. Camellia guessed he felt a little embarrassed for sort of admitting to wanting to re-enact the oh-so-famous date scene from the popular Disney movie. He cleared his throat and said, “We should stop by a pizza place to pick up the pizza. I live pretty far and I don’t want anyone driving around my area this late at night.”

Camellia furrowed her brows, feeling a little uneased by Louis’ statement. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.”

*

Thirty minutes later, Louis and Camellia were driving down to his place, the peperoni pizza they bought sitting in the back seat and filling the car with its delicious smell. The radio played quietly, filling the silence between Louis and Camellia with pop songs. Neither Louis nor Cam had said much since they got in the car, both feeling comfortable in the silence that consumed them.

A line of trees up ahead caught Camellia’s attention. She recognized the area, but it wasn’t until she saw the tops of Mount George and Mount Harrison that she knew where they were.

“You live by the forest?” Camellia asked. She was a little nervous to be near the forest after what happened with the animal attack and all that.

Louis looked at her briefly, seeming to have caught the slight waver in her voice. He then refocused his eyes on the road and said, “No. I live in the forest.”

Camellia’s eyes widened. “Really? No offense, but why would you live in the forest? Aren’t you worried about being attacked by the wolf?”

Louis tensed for a moment, then said, “The wolf won’t attack me. Trust me.”

There was some sort of finality with the way Louis spoke that Camellia didn’t bother questioning him further. He seemed absolutely certain that he wouldn’t be a victim of an animal attack, and though Camellia wasn’t so sure about how true his beliefs were, she didn’t want to push it.

They drove for another ten to fifteen minutes before they pulled up at a house – or rather a large cabin. The exterior consisted of round logs of wood and large glass windows framed by dark window panes and shutters. There were two floors, which Camellia didn’t see often with cabins. The front porch appeared to be at least a metre wide and wrapped around the exterior of the building. A rocking chair sat by the front door, a thin layer of snow blanketing the arms and seat. The wooden steps leading to the front porch creaked under Louis and Cam’s feet as they walked up to the front door. Louis had one arm around Camellia and the other supporting the pizza box.

Louis pulled his arm away from Camellia and dug his hand into his coat pocket, searching for his keys. Murmurs of frustration fell from his lips as he struggled to find his house keys. Cam looked around and couldn’t help but feel anxious, as if someone was watching her. The darkness of the forest and the dim lighting from the half-moon above them made gave her an ominous feeling.

A sound of victory came from Louis and he pulled out his keys. His hands shook from the cold as he unlocked the door. When he opened the door he rushed in, Camellia following afterwards. It was dark for a moment, but then the lights turned on and Camellia was shocked with what she saw.

The interior of the cabin looked completely different to what she expected. The walls were made of planks of wood rather than logs and were lined with pictures, varying between Louis, people Camellia assumed to be his friends and family, and nature shots. Whether or not he took those himself, Camellia didn’t know. Beams of wood crossed the upper half of the room and acted as support for the ceiling. A staircase stood to her left and the living room to her right.

“Here, I’ll take your coat,” Louis said, holding an arm out to take her coat. Camellia saw that he had already hung his up.

“Oh. Thanks,” she said, taking off her coat and handing it over. Louis hung it up while Camellia took off her winter boots.

“I’m going to get some plates for the food. There’s some DVDs on the shelf next to the TV. Feel free to look through them. If nothing catches your interest we can see what’s on Netflix,” Louis said.

Camellia nodded and made her way into the living room while Louis walked past her to where she assumed the kitchen was. The living room was rather big, much to Camellia’s surprise. A fireplace was built into the far wall, framed by large stones. The fire wasn’t on at the moment, but Camellia wondered if it was an actual fire place or just one of those electric ones people use now-a-days. The stones nearly went to ceiling. One or two feet above the fireplace was a shelf that supported the large television. Camellia was impressed with how nice the cabin looked.

Camellia went over to the shelf next to Louis’ fireplace and kneeled down, examining the multiple DVDs Louis owned. They varied from genre to genre, but it appeared that a majority of Louis’ movies were comedies. Some films that caught Camellia’s interest were Life as We Know It, 50 First Dates, This Means War and The Mask.

“Cam, what do you want to drink?” Louis asked. Camellia looked up and saw Louis pop his head from behind a doorway.

“Water, please,” was her quiet reply. Louis nodded and disappeared from her sight.

Camellia looked at the DVDs again and decided to take out 50 First Dates and This Means War. She hadn’t watched those movies in a while and she was in the mood for a good rom com.

Just as Camellia stood up, DVDs in hand, Louis re-entered the living room, carrying two plates of pizza with his hands and using his elbow and the side of his body to hold two bottles.

“Did you pick a movie?” he asked, putting the plates on the mahogany coffee table in front of the leather couch.

“I was thinking either 50 First Dates or This Means War. What do you think?” Camellia sat down on the couch, thanking Louis when he gave her a bottle of water.

“Hmm…I think 50 First Dates is a good choice, yeah?”

Camellia nodded in agreement. “Yeah, sounds good to me.” Camellia found it ironic that Louis chose that movie because this was their second first date.

Louis put his bottle of Pepsi on the coffee table and took the DVD from Camellia’s hands. He went over to the fireplace and reached up to put the DVD in. When he reached up, his shirt sweater moved up a bit, revealing what Cam thought was a long scratch on his back. She didn’t get a good look at it though because Louis turned around, turning the lights off and engulfing the room in darkness. Cam wanted to protest and say that she wanted the lights on, but she stayed silent and watched Louis’ dark figure make its way over to the couch. He sat down next to her and reached forward, grabbing what looked like the remote. The TV turned on, its bright lights making Camellia squint momentarily as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness.

A trailer for a movie came up and Louis looked over at Camellia.

“So how was your day?” he asked.

Camellia shrugged. “Okay.” That was all she could ever say about her days in Greyview. They were always just okay. “How was yours?” she asked, trying her best to be polite. She felt so awkward, not sure what to say to start up a conversation.

Louis shrugged. “Eh, could’ve been better. I mean, you’re here now, so that make things better,” he answered. Camellia felt her cheeks flush at his words.

“Oh.”

“I was thinking that after this we could watch some Doctor Who on Netflix. How does that sound?” Louis suggested.

Camellia nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that sounds great! Wait, are you caught up?”

Louis shook his head. “No. I mean, I’ve watched all the episodes on Netflix, but I haven’t watched any of the new ones.”

“Why?”

“Just haven’t had time. Plus, if I wait until they’re on Netflix, then I can just watch them whenever I want and I don’t have to wait for the next one.”

Camellia nodded, understanding what Louis was saying. “You do know that they’re taking it off Netflix, right?”

Louis’ eyes widened. “What? Why?”

“I don’t know. Something about Netflix not being able to renew its license? I’ve heard it’s still on CraveTV, so I might get that so I can watch Doctor Who.”

“That’s so stupid though,” Louis said. “I mean, Doctor Who is like one of the biggest shows in the world!”

“I know,” Camellia said with a sad nod. “It sucks.”

The main menu for the movie suddenly came up and Louis pressed play on the remote. Camellia grabbed a pizza slice and took a bite as the movie began playing.

*

Half an hour into the movie, Louis and Camellia had finished eating their pizza and were watching the movie in silence. Every so often, Camellia saw Louis shuffle closer from the corner of her eye. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to be subtle or not, but if he was trying to, then he was failing. However, she didn’t say or do anything and instead tried to focus on the movie. They were at the point where Adam Sandler’s character, Henry, was telling his friend about Lucy’s memory loss.

“If you were Henry, what would you do?” Camellia asked out of curiosity. She looked over at Louis, who was looking at her as well. He shrugged.

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t do what his friend is suggesting and just have a relationship with no strings attached. But he’s leaving in, what, a month? She won’t remember him anyway, so would there be a point of trying to be with her?”

Camellia shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s sweet how he tries really hard, though.”

Louis nodded and returned his gaze to the television. Camellia did the same, but her ears perked up when she heard the familiar sound of Louis slowly shuffling towards her. They were only about a foot apart when Louis stopped moving.

Is he going to make a move or something? Camellia wondered. Her mind immediately went back to all the romance films and rom coms she had ever watched. A scene from Grease came to mind, the one where Danny and Sandra were at the drive-in theater and he tried making a move and Sandra freaked out. She chuckled silently, but then she wondered if that was how she would react if Louis tried to do something like that.

A gust of cold air suddenly hit Camellia and she shivered, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them in an attempt to preserve her body heat. She didn’t want to bug Louis by asking him to turn up the heat.

“Are you cold?” Louis asked, noticing her shivers.

“Just a little,” she answered quietly.

“Come closer,” Louis said, gesturing for her to move closer.

“Uh…okay.” Hesitantly, she shuffled closer, decreasing the distance between them until her side was pressed up against his. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled down the blanket that was resting on top of the couch. She leaned into his side and brought her legs closer as he draped it over her smaller body. Her head rested against his chest and she almost smiled when she heard his heart thumping. Louis’s body was really warm, but he didn’t look like he was hot.

“Are you comfortable?” Louis asked.

“Yeah.” Camellia nodded.

“Good.”

The pair once again focused on the movie, laughing as Henry’s friend fell through the floor of the boat.

As the movie went on, Camellia found herself getting sleepy. She didn’t know why because she had slept fine the night before and her sleep had been good throughout the week. She wasn’t bored; she was actually sort of enjoying watching a movie with Louis. The makeup date was definitely turning out to be good, though maybe not as interesting as their first one, but that was only because Louis and Camellia talked more and got to know each other on their previous date. They were only having a makeup date because Louis got in a fight and insisted on having one.

Camellia snuggled closer to Louis without even realizing it, enjoying the warmth his body provided more than the soft blanket draped over her. She felt Louis tighten his arm around her gently, and her eyes drifted shut momentarily. Immediately, she forced the m open, not wanting to be rude by falling asleep on their date. However, her eyelids were becoming heavier and heavier, and soon she found herself burying her face in Louis’ chest and closing her eyes, letting sleep take over.

*

“Cam.” Someone shook her shoulder gently. “Wake up. The movie’s over.”

“Hmm?” Camellia hummed and cracked her eyes open, looking around and feeling as though she was in a sort of daze.

A soft chuckle reached her ears. “You fell asleep.”

Camellia sat up and stared at Louis with wide eyes, her mind no longer in a daze and full awake. She felt guilt and embarrassment.

“Crap! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she apologized.

Louis chuckled again and looked down at her with soft eyes and a faint smirk. “It’s fine. You look adorable when you sleep anyway.”

Camellia blushed and rubbed her eyes sleepily. “It wasn’t fine. It was rude and I’m sorry. I don’t know why I got so tired. And…thanks.”

Louis shrugged and sat up straighter. “Don’t worry about it. Do you want me to drive you home?” he asked.

Camellia picked her phone up from the coffee table and checked the time, seeing that it was half past nine in the evening. “Yeah, I should get home.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Louis stood up, his knees cracking as he straightened them. Camellia pushed the blanket off of her and stood up, yawning and stretching. Her joints popped and cracked as she stretched. She followed Louis to the front door and put on her boots and coat, her moves slower than usual since she was still tired.

Once both of them had their winter gear on, they left the cottage and got in Louis’ car. Camellia shivered as her body made contact with the leather seats, which had absorbed very little heat and were now freezing. Louis immediately turned on the heater once he got the car started. They buckled up and drove off, the sound of snow crunching under the tires filling the silence between them.

About half way through the drive to Camellia’s place, Camellia spoke up.

“I know I already said it, but I just wanted to apologize again for falling asleep.”

Louis looked at her briefly and chuckled in amusement, shaking his head. “I already told you it was fine. Geez, I heard Canadians apologized a lot, but damn…” he smirked to himself.

Camellia rolled her eyes and hit Louis’ arm, not very hard though because he was driving. “Shut up. Half of those stereotypes aren’t even true.”

“Oh really?” Louis asked. “Prove it.”

“Okay. Give me some stereotypes.”

“All Canadians are extremely polite.”

“You know what I have to say about that?” Camellia asked. Louis hummed. “Shut the hell up.”

Louis laughed at that. “Wow, okay then.”

Camellia chuckled and said, “Okay, we I guess we’re polite, but that’s when you compare us to other countries, like the U.S. I mean, I’ve never met an American, but I’ve heard they’re rude. I try not to be judgemental, though.”

Louis nodded. “Okay then…Canadian beer is better than American beer.”

Camellia shrugged. “Haven’t had American beer, and I don’t drink, but my friend Niall has had plenty of beer from both Canada and the U.S. and he said that Canadians have better beer. That also depends on what people prefer when it comes to beer.”

Louis nodded. “Alright…Do you guys really say ‘aboot’ instead of ‘about’?” he asked.

Camellia groaned and shook her head in annoyance. “Ugh, no! I don’t know anyone who says ‘aboot’! I don’t know where that came from! Maybe people in different provinces and territories say it differently, but I highly doubt they pronounce it ‘aboot’.”

“Do you all say ‘eh’?”

Camellia shrugged once again. “Yeah, I guess, but Americans say ‘huh’ and Australians say ‘aye’ and so on. Every country has their own version of ‘eh’. To be honest, we’re sick of hearing about it. Like, let it go, people.”

Louis laughed again and smiled at Camellia. “You’re very sassy for a Canadian.”

“Excuse me?” Camellia mocked being offended. “There’s a different between being polite and being sassy.”

“True.” Louis nodded and focused on the road again. “Canadians only like hockey.”

“Well, hockey is part of our culture since we did invent it. But we also like basketball – which we invented by the way – football, and soccer. I don’t really watch hockey except when it’s the Olympics.”

“Okay. I’ve heard that hunting and guns are the norm here. Is that true?” Louis asked. They were almost at her house now.

Camellia shook her head. “I don’t think so. We definitely have stricter gun laws here. Really, that’s more of a stereotype for the U.S., but I only say that because their gun laws aren’t as strict and you hardly see someone pull a gun out of their drawer in TV shows and movies that take place in Canada.”

Louis nodded as they pulled up to her house. He cut the engine and turned to face Camellia.

“Mind if I walk you to your door?” Louis asked.

Camellia nodded. “Sure.”

Louis got out quickly and rushed to the other side. He opened Camellia’s door and helped her out of the car before shutting the car door, locking it, and looping his arm with hers. Together, they walked up to her front door. Once they reached her door, they unhooked their arms and turned to face each other. Camellia’s porch light highlighted the contours of Louis’ face.

“Well, I guess this is it,” Louis said softly, staring deep into her eyes.

Camellia nodded once again. “Yeah.” She paused, then said, “I had fun tonight. We should hang out again sometime.”

Louis’ face fell for a moment, and Camellia realized she just unintentionally friend-zoned him. Crap.

“Yeah…” Louis trailed off, his voice soft.

“I mean…like, it was a nice date, and…I wouldn’t mind going on another,” Camellia told him awkwardly, trying to fix the slight damage she made. She actually did kind of like Louis, but she didn’t know if he was boyfriend material. She didn’t know if he was even looking for a girlfriend. Maybe he just found her attractive and wanted to date someone with no strings attached?

Camellia didn’t even know what she was thinking at that point.

Louis’ face brightened slightly, but he tried not to show it. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Camellia smiled. “I’ll try not to fall asleep again.”

Louis chuckled and smiled at her. “I already told you not to worry about it.”

“I still feel bad though.”

“Don’t.” Louis rolled his eyes, though Camellia knew it was in amusement and not in annoyance. “Anyway…yeah, I’d like to take you out again sometime.”

“Okay.” Camellia smiled. “Well…I’m just going to…head in now, so…yeah. Tonight was fun. I’ll talk to you later, yeah?”

“Wait,” Louis said. Camellia froze and watched as Louis leaned. She knew he was trying to kiss her, and she panicked, not sure if she wanted to kiss him back or not. She had never been kissed before. If her life were a book, movie, or TV show, she’d been the innocent one, or whatever those characters were called.

When Louis was just an inch away, she turned her head to the side, resulting in Louis kissing her cheek instead. The both flushed in embarrassment.

“Sorry,” Camellia apologized, her voice shaking slightly. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” With that, she rushed inside and closed the door. She locked it shut immediately after.

Camellia stood and listened for a moment, hearing Louis curse under his breath. She heard his footsteps as he walked down the pathway to his car and the roar of the engine as he started it and drove off. Sighing, she turned her back to the door and slid down it, sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest. She felt bad about not letting Louis kiss her, but it was her first kiss and they’d only gone on two dates. Camellia didn’t know much about dating, so she wasn’t sure if it was normal for people to kiss on the lips on the first or second date, or if they waited until later.

There was also the question of whether she wanted to kiss Louis. He was sweet and did his best to be a gentleman. They were both awkward people, Camellia even more so due to her lack of experience. Camellia always imagined her first kiss being romantic and full of fireworks – metaphorically speaking, of course. She imagined that her first kiss would be under the stars or in the rain or just something romantic like in the movies. She didn’t imagine it being on her front porch.

Camellia couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to kiss Louis. Was he a good kisser? Would she be a good kisser? What even made someone a good kisser? Camellia didn’t exactly understand that.

Once again, Camellia sighed, frustrated with herself. She had embarrassed herself by not only falling asleep on her date with Louis, but turning her face at the last second. She felt like she wasn’t doing a good job at going on dates. She just hoped that the next date she went on would end on a good note unlike her last two dates.


	8. Chapter Eight

The loud ringing of Camellia’s cellphone woke her from her sleep the next morning. She groaned and put her pillow over her ear, trying to block out the ringing and go back to sleep. She didn’t know what time it was, but it was still dark out and it was Sunday morning and all Camellia wanted to do was sleep. 

The ringing of her phone persisted. Finally having had enough of it, she sat up with a huff and picked up her phone. She muttered ‘shit’ under her breath when she realized Mr. Marshall, her boss, was calling her.

“Hello?” she said once she answered the call. She tried her best not to sound like she had just woken up.

“Hello Camellia. I’m sorry this is so last minute, but can you come into work today? We’re short-staffed.”

Camellia closed her eyes and shook her head in frustration. Why did Mr. Marshall have to call her last minute? He was a good boss; he treated his employees with politeness and was very understanding. He was kind and not once had Camellia seen him angry at an employee. The thing she disliked about her boss was that whenever he needed an employee to work an extra shift, he always asked last minute. Of course, it wasn’t always his fault. Sometimes the person whose shift was being filled didn’t tell Mr. Marshall that they couldn’t come until last minute. Still, Camellia wished he didn’t always rely on her to take the extra shift. More often than not, he would ask her to fill in if someone couldn’t make it, and though she got extra money and more time off for doing so, it still annoyed her.

“Yes, I can come in,” she answered.

She heard what sounded like a breath of relief from the other end of the call before her boss said, “Thank you so much! I knew I could count on you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Alright. Come in at your usual time. You’re doing your usual job today. Jacob called and said his mother is in the hospital.”

“Oh…Alright. I’ll see you soon, sir.”

“See you soon.”

With that, Cam hung up the phone and locked it. She sighed again, not happy that she had to go into work. She knew she could have said no, but she didn’t like lying to people, her boss none the less. If her brother and his boyfriend had been able to come into town like originally planned, she would have at least had an excuse not to go in.

Checking the time on her phone, Camellia saw that it was ten to seven, and decided that she should eat quickly. She got up and walked down the hall to the kitchen, where she made herself some toast. It was still dark out, but it was lighter than usual since it was nearly daylight savings. She wasn’t sure if she was emotionally prepared to handle the time change yet. The sky was a dark shade of blue, the yellow moon in the sky slowly dulling as it became lighter out. Her toast popped up and she quickly buttered it up. She then proceeded to the living room, sitting down and turning on the morning news like she usually did.

The usual news anchor appeared on the screen, her face caked with makeup as usual, making her nose look oddly thin and her lips painted a much too bright shade of red. Camellia knew that they had to wear a lot of makeup on television because of the cameras and the lighting and so on, but this woman’s nose was abnormally thin and it was hard to focus on what she was saying.

The news anchors face turned grim as she said, “This just in: there has been a second animal attack. Our reporter Jackson Hoden is at the scene right now. Hello Jackson.” The footage switched to the edge of Greyview forest, where a tall, dark skinned man stood, bundled up in a thick winter coat and a mic clutched in his glove-clad hands. The sky was still dark, so someone standing beside or behind the camera person shone a bright light onto his face.

“Hello Becky. We’re currently outside Greyview’s forest, where police were called earlier this morning. Victor Collins, Greyview’s finest hunter, was found barely conscious just at the edge of the forest. He said he had been attacked by a wolf.” Camellia’s eyes widened in shock. Victor Collins had been attacked? Vanessa’s father had been attacked?

“Is he alright?” the news anchor’s voice was heard.

“Paramedics are still working on him. It looks like there are no life-threatening injuries.” Jackson looked to his right and waved the camera over. He started walking, the camera turning to show an ambulance. The back doors were open and Victor Collins was sitting on the floor of the truck, a shock blanket wrapped around his body and bandages taped to his face. A paramedic was cutting his jacket open, probably to have more access to a wound so that they could clean it and bandage it.

“Mr. Collins, mind if we have a word with you?” Jackson asked.

Victor looked up, his dark eyes staring deep into the camera. He nodded and pushed the paramedic away, saying that she could continue after. She protested as he got up, but he ignored her and walked over to the reporter. Victor Collins was known to be rude and stubborn.

“What d’ya want?” he asked in a gruff voice. His wan skin looked paler under the camera’s bright lights.

“Victor, you said it was a wolf that attacked you last night?” Jackson asked. He held the microphone out to Victor.

“Yeah. Went by myself, which was a mistake. Usually go with my boys, but they had all given up on the wolf.”

“You’ve been going into the forest over the past week or so since the last attack, correct?”

“Yeah. Me and my boys been wantin’ to kill that bastard ever since the first attack. No one messes with Greyview.” Victor had a glare on his face.

“No offense Mr. Collins, but how did you get out alive? It looks like you got some serious injuries.”

Victor scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Nothing, not even that wolf, is gonna kill me. I plan on staying for a long time. I shot that wolf with everything I had on me and ran…” Victor snatched the mic from the reporter’s hands and faced the camera, his dark eyes shining with anger and bloodthirst. “But I promise that I ain’t gonna give up. I know what’s out there now, and it looks like there may be more. I’m not gonna rest until those wolves are dead and this town is safe!”

Jackson nodded and took the mic back. “Well…thank you, Victor. I’ll let you get back to the paramedic now. Stay safe.” Jackson walked away from Victor and said, “You heard it here, folks. Victor Collins may have gotten hurt, but he’s not giving up until this town is safe. Let’s hope that he remains true to his word. Back to you, Becky.”

Camellia turned off the television and shook her head, feeling conflicted. She knew that those wolves were dangerous to the town, but she didn’t want anyone to kill them. She was also worried because Louis lived in the forest and even though he insisted that he would be fine, he was still in danger.

Feeling anxious from watching the news story and seeing Victor Collins all scratched up, she sent a quick text to Louis.

Hey. There’s been another animal attack in the forest. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay and tell you to be careful.

Once the text was sent, she locked her phone and decided to get ready for work, mentally preparing herself for another boring day in Greyview.


	9. Chapter Eight

Later that afternoon, Camellia was walking home from work. She got off earlier than usual since the bank closed earlier on Sundays. Camellia was happy and relieved and was prepared to just nap on the couch or binge watch Fuller House on Netflix since she hadn’t watched it yet. However, when she arrived at her home, she saw two men standing at her front porch, shivering in the cold. Their backs were towards her, so she couldn’t see their faces.

“Excuse me,” she called while walking up the pathway.

The two men turned around and Camellia gasped when she saw the familiar face of her older brother. She smiled and squealed, running up to him. He smiled and opened his arm, allowing her to embrace him in a tight hug, which he returned eagerly. He laughed at his sister’s reaction.

“Oh my gosh! I can’t believe you’re here!” she squealed excitedly. She pulled away from the hug and said with confusion, “I thought you said you couldn’t come in for at least another week.”

“I lied. Our flight was delayed anyway, so I figured I’d just come today and surprise you instead,” Carter said, smiling down at his little sister. He seemed to have grown slightly taller since the last time Cam had seen him. His pale cheeks were rosy from the cold.

“Oh,” Camellia said, nodding to her brothers words. She looked behind him and saw Carter’s boyfriend, whom she’d talked to briefly on the Skype call. “Harry, right?”

Harry was definitely attractive, more so in person compared to how he appeared during the Skype call. He was taller than her brother, appearing to be almost six feet. Cam could faintly make out green eyes, which contrasted with his pale skin. His hair went past his shoulders in a mix of dark curls and waves. 

Harry smiled and held out his glove-clad hand to shake hers. “Nice to meet you properly, Camellia.”

Camellia smiled. “Please, call me Cam.” Harry nodded and shivered when a cold gush of air hit him, making his hair fly a bit. “Oh! Sorry. Come inside.” Camellia quickly unlocked the door and went in, holding it open for her brother and his boyfriend. She shut the door once they were inside and locked it. Suddenly, she noticed they didn’t have their bags. “Where are you bags?”

“Oh, right. We decided to stay at a motel instead. I hope you don’t mind,” Carter answered, taking off his coat. Camellia took it from him and hung it up, doing the same with Harry’s.

“That’s fine. I wasn’t prepared anyways since you claimed you weren’t coming.” Carter chuckled. “Anyway, come sit down. Let’s talk.”

The three of them made their way into Camellia’s living room and sat down. Camellia sat on the recliner by the window while Carter sat on the main couch perpendicular to the recliner, pulling Harry down next to him. Carter wrapped an arm around Harry, who leaned into his side despite the fact that he was taller. A smile tugged at Cam’s lips when Harry and Carter smiled lovingly at one another.

“How was your flight?” she started off, wanting to be polite.

“Long and cramped with screaming children.” Carter rolled his eyes and Camellia winced, knowing how annoying it is when there is a screaming child on a plane. “We had to take two taxis and a bus to get here.”

“You know, if you had told me you were coming only a day later, I would have picked you up. I have a car,” Camellia said with a roll of her eyes.

“Wanted it to be a surprise. It was worth it.” Carter smiled and intertwined his free hand with Harry’s.

“Right.” She shifted her gaze to Harry. “Tell me about yourself, Harry.”

Harry sat up slightly. “What would you like to know?” he asked, voice quiet. Carter looked at Cam and mouthed ‘he’s shy’.

Camellia shrugged and gave Harry and encouraging smile. “Just tell me whatever you’re comfortable telling me. How old are you?”

“I turned twenty-two recently.”

“Oh, so you’re younger than my brother?” Carter was twenty-five, turning twenty-six in September. Harry nodded. “Cool. Where did you guys meet?”

“At work, actually,” Carter answered. He paused and smiled down at Harry. “He was applying for a job as a photographer there and I needed one since my usual guy was visiting his mum in the hospital and they hired him. We got along really well and…yeah. We started dating not long after that.”

“Aww,” Camellia cooed. “Okay, who asked who out?”

Both boys chuckled. Carter’s cheeks were tinted with a faint blush as he admitted, “I wanted to ask Harry out for a while, but I couldn’t tell if he was straight or not. That question was obviously answered when he asked me out about a month after meeting each other.”

Harry smiled and kissed Carter’s cheek.

“That’s sweet.” Camellia smiled at the adorable couple. “You guys live together, right?”

“Yeah. We have been for about…six months?” Carter looked to Harry for confirmation. Harry nodded. “Yeah, about six months now. Found an apartment a couple blocks from work. It’s perfect.”

“That’s nice.”

“You should show us around Greyview,” Carter said suggestively. “I’ve never been here before, and this is Harry’s first time in Canada. We’d love to see the town.”

“There isn’t much to see. I’ve told you that Greyview isn’t an interesting town.” Camellia leaned back in her chair. “It’s pretty much the same here every day.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Carter insisted.

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you lived here.”

Carter shrugged. “All right. Anyway…tell me about this Louis guy.”

Camellia sighed, knowing her brother was close to going all over-protective. He always did whenever there was a guy involved in Camellia’s life, though they were all just friends, and she did not have a lot of guy friends anyway. There was Liam from the bank, and then there was one guy who she had a crush on back in high school named Niall. Besides those two and Freddie from grade nine, she didn’t associate with guys.

She didn’t have anything against men. Camellia was just an awkward person and didn’t talk to a lot of people anyway. She found it easier to make friends with girls than it was to make friends with guys.

“What do you want to know about him?” Camellia asked.

“How old is he? Where’s he from? What does he do for a living?”

Camellia chuckled and shook her head. “You sound a little creepy, bro.” Carter rolled his eyes. “He’s twenty-four, he moved here from England a few years ago, and…I actually don’t know what he does for a living…” Camellia never realized that Louis never told her that.

Carter raised his eyebrows but didn’t make any comment. “He’s British, eh?”

“Yeah. Said he’s from South Yorkshire or something.”

“I had a friend named Louis from South Yorkshire,” Harry said.

“Really? That’s cool, I guess,” Camellia responded.

“What’s his last name?” Carter asked.

“Tomlinson.”

Harry’s eyes widened and he sat up completely. “Wait, Louis Tomlinson?”

Camellia nodded, feeling a little uneased and confused by Harry’s sudden interest in the topic. “Uh…yeah.”

“Did he happen to say where in Yorkshire he was from?” Harry asked.

Camellia thought for a moment, the name of Louis’ home town coming to mind. “Doncaster, I believe.”

Harry’s eyes widened further. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it. He tapped some icons on the screen before turning the phone so that the screen was facing her. “Is this him?”

Camellia leaned in closer, eyes widening in shock when she saw a picture of a younger Louis on Harry’s phone. It was definitely Louis. The boy had the same eyes and facial structure and very similar hair style. “Yeah, that’s him. Did you two know each other?”

Harry put his phone away and nodded. “Yeah…We were mates. Best mates, actually.” Harry’s voice went soft and his eyes drifted downwards.

“Did something happen between you guys?” Carter asked, both sounding and looking concerned and confused.

“Not exactly,” was Harry’s answer.

Camellia’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. “What does that mean?” she asked.

Harry waited for a moment. His green eyes met Cam’s and he said, “He ran away from home.”

Camellia’s eyes widened and she felt her breath catch in her throat. Louis ran away from home? Why would he do that? Millions of questions buzzed in Cam’s head, making her thoughts more jumbled and confusing. She remembered Louis telling her back on their first date that he left England because he “needed a change”, but she didn’t think Louis actually ran away.

“Do you know why?” Carter asked, noticing Camellia’s lack of vocal response.

Harry shook his head sadly. “No, I don’t. No one does. When he disappeared, he left a note for his mum telling her not to look for him and that he loved her. Of course, she didn’t listen. She called the police and even hired a private investigator. They gave up after a couple months…His family was so torn up about it.” Carter pulled Harry into his side. “Everyone thought he was dead. They even had a funeral and everything,” he added on, voice shaking slightly.

Camellia saw how upset Harry looked and finally decided to speak up. “I’m sorry you guys went through that.”

Harry looked up at Camellia and asked softly, “Did he happen to mention why he moved here?”

Camellia nodded, remembering Louis’ words at the restaurant. “He said something about needing a change. I didn’t ask him to elaborate because it seemed like a touchy subject.”

“Did he mention anybody?” Harry asked, looking slightly hopeful. Camellia guessed that Harry was hoping Louis mentioned him, having been best friends until his disappearance.

“Just his sisters,” Camellia answered. 

Harry’s face fell and he looked disappointed. “Oh, alright…It’s actually also sad because his mum gave birth to twins a couple years ago and he doesn’t even know about them. They may never meet him.”

“Actually,” Cam said, “he does know about them. He talked about them briefly.”

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “How would he know about them? As far as I know, he hasn’t contacted anyone in his family or any of his friends back home.”

Camellia shrugged and said, “I don’t know.”

All of a sudden, someone was knocking on the front door. Camellia was confused because she wasn’t expecting anyone to come over today. However, she wasn’t expecting her brother and his boyfriend to come over today either. Today was just full of surprises, which was a nice change compared to her usual daily life in Greyview.

Camellia got up and went to the front door. She unlocked it and opened it. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw Louis standing there on her front door, hands buried in his coat pockets. His hair was a mess as usual, but he still looked attractive. Facial hair was beginning to dust his jaw and upper lip.

“Hey,” she greeted, trying to hide her shock. She also refrained from saying Louis’ name in case Harry heard. “What are you doing here?” She moved to the left a little so that the possibility of Harry seeing Louis from the living room was less likely.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the cinema with me. I would have called but I was in the area so I figured I’d come and ask you myself,” Louis answered. He shivered and added, “Can I come in? It’s bloody freezing out here.”

“Um…” Camellia hesitated. She looked over her shoulder to the living room. Carter and Harry were still snuggled up on the couch, but both of them were looking at the door in confusion and curiosity. She looked at Louis again and said, “I don’t know if that’s the best idea.”

“What?” Louis was confused. “Why not? Is something wrong? Crap, am I interrupting something?”

Kind of, Cam thought.

“Well…” she trailed off, trying to think of an explanation.

“Louis?” Harry’s voice came from behind Camellia.

Camellia’s eyes widened once again and she muttered, ‘crap’ under her breath. Louis’ eyes widened and he pushed past Camellia. He stepped inside the house, freezing when his eyes landed on Harry, who was standing by the living room entrance.

“Harry…” Louis trailed off, voice shaking. Many emotions ran through Louis’ eyes, and Camellia couldn’t tell what exactly he was feeling.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked.

Louis narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “I could ask you the same thing, Harry.”

“Don’t change the subject!” Harry snapped, eyes narrowing at Louis. His fists were clenched at his sides and his muscles were tensing with each passing second. It was scary, seeing Harry go from being all shy and quiet to loud and angry. “You fucking left home without even telling anyone! All you left was a shitty note saying not to look for you! Do you know how worried everyone was?”

For a brief second, Louis looked sad. However, that changed when he said firmly, “I had to leave.”

“WHY?” Harry yelled. “Why did you have to leave? You could have at least told someone! We all thought you were dead, Louis! There was a funeral and everything!”

“I can’t tell you why I left,” Louis snapped, now looking angry. His fists clenched at his side and his breathing was getting a little heavy. “It’s personal.”

“So you decided to leave everyone, your friends and family, and move all the way to Canada, and you won’t tell us because it’s personal?” Harry sneered, using air quotes when repeating Louis’ words. “That’s a lame fucking excuse, Louis.”

“You have no business in why I left!” Louis snapped, pointing a finger accusingly at Harry. “You and your blabbering mouth never shut the hell up! If I told you why I left, you would’ve told the whole town before I could even leave!”

Harry looked hurt and offended. “Excuse me? If I remember correctly, you were the one always talking in class.” Louis rolled his eyes. “You’re an asshole, you know that? Leaving your whole family back home, your friends and everything. Do you realize your mother had to take care of four children on her own?”

“She raised multiple on her own before, Harry. She could do it without my help.”

“You just left them, though! You could’ve at least told one of them where you were going! Your whole family was a wreck for months after you left, and they’re not that much better now. Everyone thinks you’re dead, Louis! You put everyone close to you through hell because of this!” Harry yelled.

Louis’ eyes darkened at that he stomped up to Harry. He grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pinned him to the wall. “Don’t you dare fucking say that!” he growled. “Don’t you dare tell me that I’m an asshole. I know that, okay? You don’t think I thought about the consequences of my actions before I left?”

Harry looked scared as he stared down at Louis with wide eyes. Louis had a tight grip on him and despite the fact that Louis was shorter than Harry – which Camellia just noticed now – Louis was able to lift him off the ground.

“Hey, buddy,” a new voice said. Everyone’s attention snapped to Carter. He was no longer sitting on the couch like he had been for the past few minutes. He was glaring at Louis as he said in a firm voice, “Let go of my boyfriend.”

Louis’ eyes widened. “You’re gay?” he asked Harry.

“That doesn’t matter. You need to put him down and leave,” Carter snapped, striding over to Harry and Louis. Carter was slightly taller than Louis.

Louis closed his eyes and took three deep breaths. A moment later, he dropped Harry and stepped back, fists clenched at his sides and dark eyes narrowed at Harry and Carter. Harry was also breathing heavily as he glared at Louis, hand rubbing his chest where Louis had held him. Carter narrowed his eyes at Louis. It was a glaring match between the three men.

“Let’s go home,” Carter said to Harry. Harry didn’t respond, choosing instead to continue glaring at Louis. Carter huffed and tugged Harry’s arm, pulling him away from the wall and over to where their coats and boots were. He pushed Harry towards the coat rack and turned to Camellia. “Mind if we come over tomorrow?”

Camellia nodded, trying to ignore the tension in the air. “Y-Yeah…I’ll see if I can get off work.”

Carter nodded and kissed his sister on the cheek. “See you then.”

Camellia nodded and watched as he put on his winter gear and left with Harry, having to tug the taller man’s bicep to get him to leave. The door slammed shut, leaving Louis and Camellia alone.

“Fuck,” she heard Louis curse under his breath. She turned to face him and saw that he was tugging on his hair in frustration. “Fuck, he knows where I live. He’s gonna tell mum and the girls and…shit.” His breathing was quickening and getting heavier. It looked like he was close to having a panic attack.

“Louis, calm down,” Camellia said gently.

“Shut up!” Louis snapped. Camellia squeaked and took a step away from him. Louis’ face softened and he said quickly, “Fuck, I didn’t mean to snap at you, I just…fuck…”

Camellia watched his breathing get heavier and his eyes get darker. His face was turning red and Camellia didn’t what to do to calm him down. His body was literally shaking, though Camellia didn’t know if it was from fear, anxiety or anger. It was an unsettling sight.

“Louis, please just calm down,” Camellia pleaded.

Louis shook his head and rushed towards the front door. Cam quickly ran to the front door, putting her hand on the knob and effectively preventing him from leaving. Louis glared at her.

“Move.”

Camellia shook her head in protest. “Please calm down. We can talk about this.”

“No we fucking can’t! Now move!” Louis yelled, roughly shoving her away from the door and throwing it open. He hurried out the door and Camellia just sat on the floor, her butt soar from the fall and her forearm red and throbbing with pain. Louis was freakishly strong, she realized.

The sound of an engine roaring to life reached Camellia’s ears, followed by the sound of a car driving away. Camellia’s eyes watered as the pain in her arm worsened and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Louis literally pushed her aside like she was nothing but a rag doll. He was so rough with her and she didn’t know why. She realized now that maybe she should have just let Louis leave and shouldn’t have blocked the doorway, but that gave him no excuse to be rough with her.

Sighing sadly, she got up and closed the front door, locking it afterwards. She went to the kitchen and got an ice pack out of the freezer. She wrapped it up in a dish cloth and put it on her arm where Louis had grabbed her, wincing when she pressed on the red skin. There was going to be a bruise there; she could tell.

Her mind began to replay the fight Louis and Harry had just minutes ago. Louis never said why he left home, only saying it was personal. It appeared, however, that Louis hadn’t even wanted to leave in the first place, but he did for whatever reason.

Camellia sat on her kitchen table, holding an ice pack to her most likely bruised arm, and she wondered if it was a good idea to keep seeing Louis. He obviously had anger issues, given how he had gotten in a fight on their first date and it wasn’t even that big of an issue (okay, inappropriate touching is actually a big issue, but it was necessary for Louis to start a fight with the guy), and now he had nearly attacked Harry and pushed her to the floor. He also snapped at people a lot. Camellia wondered if he was bipolar or if just had serious anger management problems that he needed to work on.

There was one thing that Camellia wanted to know though, and that was why Louis left England. She wasn’t sure if she should try asking him. They had only known each other for a couple weeks. Louis wouldn’t even tell Harry, his best friend of who knows how long, or his family why he left, so there was a good chance that Louis would refuse to tell Camellia too. She wanted to know, though. She was always a curious person.

As Camellia sat on the table, ice pack held to her arm, she decided that she was going to give Louis some space. She didn’t know if Louis would try to contact her at all, but she knew she wouldn’t contact him unless he contacted her first. She didn’t want to risk setting Louis off or just get ignored by him. You can’t be ignored if you’re not making any effort to communicate with the person. If Louis wanted to talk to her, she would talk to him.

Hopefully, Louis would talk to her soon.


	10. Chapter Ten

Camellia stared at her arm. It was late morning and she, thankfully, didn’t have to go to work. She called her boss the night before and got the week off so she could spend some time with her brother. Currently, she was examining the bruise on her arm given to her by Louis. It was bigger than she thought it would be, about the size of a fist, and contrasted with her pale skin. Despite the fact that she had put ice on it for a good house the night before, her arm still bruised and it hurt a lot when she put pressure on it.

Sighing, she went to her closet and pulled her burgundy University of Toronto hoodie off of its hanger. She pulled it over her head and slipped her arms into its sleeves. The hoodie was a few years old. It was a gift from her parents when she first arrived at U of T campus. It was a bit big on her, but Camellia loved it. Oversized sweaters were very comfortable and always made her feel safe and warm.

Cam left her bedroom and went to the washroom, washing her face, brushing her teeth and hair. She decided on wearing no makeup because she wasn’t going to work. Last night she had called her boss and asked for the rest of the week off. It was last minute and Camellia normally wouldn’t ask her boss so late, but he was fine with it considering he had been asking her to do extra work last minute. She had also explained that her brother had come to town without telling her and she wanted to spend time with him before he went back to England with Harry.

Thinking of Harry made Camellia think of Louis. She pulled out her phone and checked to see if she had gotten any calls or texts. She was hoping that Louis would try to talk to her, whether it be about yesterday or something else. Since she had decided that she wanted Louis to be the one to establish when it was okay to talk, she couldn’t contact him. However, her curiosity was making it quite difficult to stick with that rule. She wanted to know why Louis ran away from home and why he lashed out at Harry. She knew Louis was probably shocked to see Harry after years of not seeing him. Harry was also yelling at Louis, which didn’t help. Having been exposed like that would make someone angry, and though Harry had every right to be mad at Louis, calling him out in front of Camellia and Carter was a bit much. A conversation so personal is better to be held in private.

Cam didn’t realize until her finger was hovering over the call icon that she had gone to Louis’ contact. Letting out a huff of air through her nose, she left her contacts and locked her phone. She promised herself that she would give Louis some space and wait for him to contact her. Of course, if he didn’t make any effort to talk within a few days, she would probably try to talk to him. He couldn’t ignore her just because her brother is dating the man who exposed Louis’ secret – that wasn’t fair. She did nothing wrong and was only a witness. Yes, she did try to stop Louis from leaving, which wasn’t the smartest idea, and she knew that now, but still. Louis obviously had a temper though, and so maybe in his mind, she did do wrong. Maybe he was embarrassed for lashing out like that and didn’t want to speak to her. Maybe he thought she was mad at him and wanted to give her space. Maybe he didn’t want her to ask questions. There were many possibilities and Camellia didn’t know which was true.

The phone buzzed in her hand. Her brother’s name and picture appeared on the screen. She answered the call and brought her phone to her ear.

“Hey,” she greeted. “What’s up?”

“Hey! Do you have work today?” Carter asked. She heard shuffling in the background and figured he was multitasking. Her brother was always a multitasker.

“I did, but I called my boss last night and got the rest of the week off. He’s been asking me to work extra hours last minute a lot recently and so he said I deserved some extra time off.”

There was a brief pause, and Camellia could almost picture her brother nodding to what she said. “That’s great! I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today after work, but since you have time off, maybe we could spend the day together.”

“I’d like that,” Cam said. “So when and where should we hang out?”

“I’m cool with anything.” Camellia rolled her eyes. Carter usually said that when asked what he wanted to do or when he wanted to meet up or where he wanted to go and so forth. The only time that wasn’t his response was when he either couldn’t do something at a certain time, go to a certain place, or really did not want to do something. He was indecisive, but Cam was too. It was something they both got from their father.

“Well, you’re the one visiting, so is there anything you want to do in particular? Go see a film? Watch TV? Go anywhere to eat?”

There was another pause. Camellia guessed that he was thinking of something to do. A moment later, he asked, “Can we just hang out at your place?”

“Sure,” Cam agreed. “Do you want a drive?”

“Nah, I’ll take the bus,” Carter answered. “When should I come?”

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Cam said. “But if you really want an answer, how about noon?”

“Sure,” Carter agreed.

“Is Harry going to join us or no?” she asked. “He can if he wants. I don’t want him to feel like he can’t hang out with us.”

“I’ll ask,” Carter replied. The sound of shuffling came through the phone’s speakers and Cam faintly heard her brother ask Harry if he wanted to join them or not. Almost a minute later, Carter spoke again, saying, “He said he’s going to stay here. He might take a walk around town and take some pictures.”

“Okay, but tell him to avoid the forest. The police have asked people not to go in because of the recent animal attacks.”

“Wait, attacks? I thought you said there was only one?” Carter asked, confusion evident in his voice.

“There was another one recently. Just tell him not to go,” Camellia said.

“I will, don’t worry.”

“Okay. So, I’ll see you at noon then?”

“Yep. I’ll talk to you later.”

The siblings said their goodbyes before ending the call. Camellia put her phone in the front pocket of her hoodie and went to the living room. She hadn’t had breakfast yet, but she wasn’t hungry anyways. She would just make lunch for her and Carter when he came over. Sitting down on the couch, she grabbed the remote and turned on the television. After surfing through a few channels, she settled on a TV show she liked called Ghost Adventures. It was weird for them to play it in the morning, but it was a good show so Cam wasn’t complaining. She sat back and put her feet up on the coffee table, letting herself relax and enjoy her time off.

*

When it was twelve p.m., someone knocked on her door. Cam got up off the couch and went to the front door. She pulled it open and smiled when she saw her brother. He was bundled up in a thick black coat and wore a red toque. His nose and cheeks were tinted pink from the cold.

“Hey, come on in,” Cam said, stepping aside and letting her brother in. He thanked her and hurried, letting out a shaky breath.

“I forgot how cold it is during the winter here,” Carter said, unzipping his coat.

“It’s actually not as bad as it usually is,” Cam told him, smirking a little.

Carter scoffed and hung his coat on the hanger. “It still feels like it’s minus thirty out there.”

Camellia rolled her eyes. “It’s not even minus five.”

“Really?” Carter asked as he took off his hat and shoved it in the sleeve of his jacket.

“Yeah.” Carter bent over and untied his boots. “I wanted to cook lunch for us. What would you like?” Camellia asked.

“I brought McDonalds,” Carter said, nodding his head towards the bag of McDonalds Cam failed to notice when he walked in. The bottom of the bag was lightly stained with grease.

“Oh, okay. Less work for me.”

Carter nodded and kicked off his boots, pushing them to the side with his foot. He stood up and picked up the bag. “Where are we eating?”

“Living room,” Cam answered, leading her brother into the living room. “What did you get me?” she asked.

“Ten pack of nuggets and fries. I didn’t get you a drink since you don’t like pop,” Carter answered. They sat down on the couch, Camellia pulling the coffee table closer to them so that they could reach their food easier.

“That’s fine. I’m glad you remembered what I like,” Cam answered.

Carter pulled out a box of chicken nuggets and passed them to Cam, who took it and put it in front of her. He then passed her the pack of fries. She opened her box of nuggets and dumped the fries into the other half of the box. Carter pulled out a Big Mac, bottle of Diet Coke, and large fries. Cam picked up a fry and popped it into her mouth, nearly moaning at the taste. She hadn’t had McDonalds in a while, and she had forgotten how good the food was.

“What are you watching?” Carter asked, taking a bite of his burger. After swallowing, he ate a fry. Camellia never understood how people could just switch between foods like that. Ever since she was little, she always ate her fries before eating her burger or nuggets or whatever she had that came with fries. It was just something that she did. She didn’t even know where the habit came from.

“Ghost Adventures,” she answered.

Carter groaned and threw his head back, whining, “Ugh! You know I hate that show.”

“Well I’m sorry, but I do,” Camellia huffed.

“This is just a bunch of bullshit. Ghosts aren’t real!” Carter said.

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“There isn’t any evidence that they are real,” Carter said.

“Actually, there kind of is. Even then, there isn’t any evidence saying that they aren’t real. I’ll turn it off since you don’t like it, but don’t insult my shows. My house, my TV, my rules.”

Carter nodded and thanked Cam as she picked up the remote and began looking through the channels for something they would both enjoy watching. As she looked through the channels, Carter noticed the bruise on her arm since her sleeves were rolled up. His eyes widened and he grabbed it, asking, “What happened to your arm?”

Cam winced and pulled her arm out of Carter’s grip. “Nothing.”

“That isn’t nothing, Cam! That’s a big bruise,” Carter exclaimed. He sounded worried.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Carter stared at her for a moment, his brows furrowed in confusion, then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Did Louis do this?”

Cam felt herself panic but tried not to show it. She didn’t want her brother freaking out. “No, it wasn’t,” she lied.

Carter scoffed, not believing her. “He did, didn’t he? That fucking asshole. I’m gonna kill him!” he growled, clenching his fists in anger.

“Carter, it wasn’t him who did this. I hit my arm on a wall really hard last night. It’s nothing, don’t worry,” Cam lied. She didn’t know why she was lying to protect Louis. He did hurt her, and whether it was intentional or not, he still did it. He hadn’t even apologized yet. Louis didn’t deserve to be protected, so why was Cam trying to?

Carter looked his sister in the eyes, trying to figure out if he believed her or not. After a minute or so, he let out a huff and said, “Fine, I’ll believe you for now. But if you’re lying and I find out, I’ll make sure that bastard pays.”

Camellia nodded, knowing her brother would actually go through with it. Carter was a nice person and got along with pretty much everyone, but if you hurt someone he cared about, he was scary. He was protective of his loved ones and wouldn’t hesitate to do something if someone tried to hurt them. He didn’t normally get violent – he would normally be assertive – but he has used violence to get his message across before. Despite the fact that he was a little bit on the skinnier side, he was very strong and exercised a lot.

“Okay…” Cam finally said. She paused, trying to think of something to talk about. Her mind wandered to Harry. “How’s Harry doing?”

Carter shrugged and leaned back, letting his muscles relax. “He’s alright. He’s pretty upset about the fight with Louis last night.”

Cam sighed, nodding in understanding. “Yeah. I’m sorry about that, by the way. I wasn’t expecting Louis to come over and I wasn’t expecting him to react like that.”

“Has he spoken to you since yesterday?” Carter asked.

Camellia shook her head. “No. He left after you guys. I would have tried calling or texting him, but I want to give him some space.”

Carter nodded. “I see.”

Camellia sighed and leaned back on the couch. “I wonder why he ran away. He said he needed a change, but he never said what or why. He’s just so…mysterious, as cliché as it sounds. He’s very vague whenever he talks about himself or his past or home. I wish I knew why.”

“How long have you known each other for?” Carter asked.

Camellia shrugged, facing scrunching up. “I don’t know. A couple weeks, I think. I know that’s probably why he hasn’t told me much. I mean, we haven’t known each other that long, so it makes sense not to tell me such personal information. Still, I wish I knew.”

Carter nodded, a sympathetic look on his face. “I kind of get it. When Harry and I first started going out, he was very closed off. When he asked me out, I thought he would be talking a lot, but he was actually very quiet. It made our first date very awkward.”

Camellia nodded, not really interested in her brother’s first date with Harry at the moment, but she knew that he was only trying to be sympathetic and understanding. “I see.”

“I mean, I know it’s not nearly the same as you and Louis, but still, I get it. When someone’s so quiet and closed off, you want to know why, and knowing that Louis ran away from home makes you more curious. It’s his personal business though, so don’t try and force an answer out of him like Harry did last night…He’s a sweet guy, yeah? I’ve never seen Harry so angry before.”

Camellia nodded and ate one of her fries. “Yeah, he’s scary when he’s mad.” The two of them laugh. When they calm down, Cam picks up the remote again and says, “It looks like Ghostbusters is on. Want to watch that?”

Carter nodded, taking one of his own fries and eating it. Cam switched to the channel playing Ghostbusters and put down the remote. She leaned back, focusing on the movie and enjoying her McDonalds.

*

It was a good day. After eating their McDonalds and finishing Ghostbusters, they decided to watch the sequel on Netflix. They spent the day watching Netflix movies and TV shows. Camellia had finally convinced her brother to watch an episode of Supernatural – her favourite show – with her. Carter had always argued that it was only popular because of how hot the actors were. Cam finally won him over when she said that the show would not be on its eleventh season if it was only popular because of the hot actors. They watched the first episode and he said that he liked it, so they watched more. Carter now claimed he was Team Sam.

Around quarter to nine, Carter said he wanted to go back to the motel. They cleaned up their mess, turned off the TV and all the lights, and went to Cam’s white Hyundai Accent. The motel was about a ten minute drive, according to Cam’s GPS when she put in the address for the motel.

Currently, they were talking about why Carter was on Team Sam and why Camellia was Team Dean.

“Yeah, Dean is hot, I totally agree, but Sam is hotter,” Carter stated.

Camellia rolled her eyes. “Dean is totally hotter. Sam goes through a weird face where he isn’t as hot, but around season eight he gets hotter. Still, Dean has always been hotter.”

“But Sam’s got better hair,” Carter pointed out.

Camellia scoffed and said, “You just like guys with long hair. You’re dating Harry, remember?”

Carter shrugged. “I won’t deny that long hair turns me on.”

“Oh, so I turn you on? Carter, I love you, but not like that,” Cam joked.

Carter’s eyes widened as he processed Cam’s words. He laughed and gagged at the same time. “Okay, that’s not what I meant! I meant long hair on guys turns me on. Incest is not my thing, and I am one hundred percent gay.”

Camellia laughed at her brother’s reaction, throwing her head back momentarily. She quickly brought her focus back to the road and said, “I know. I’m just teasing you.”

Carter chuckled again. They pulled up to the motel and Cam parked the car. Carter turned in his seat to look at her.

“I had fun today. We should hang out again tomorrow. Why don’t you, me and Harry go out for lunch?” Carter suggested.

Camellia nodded, liking Carter’s idea. “Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.”

“You know, I was thinking that maybe we should go down to Toronto and visit our parents. I haven’t seen them in a couple years at least, and I don’t know when you last saw them.”

“I visited them during Christmas,” Camellia said. “I think that’s a good idea. We’ll talk about it more tomorrow, yeah?”

Carter nodded and leaned forward, embracing his sister in a hug. She hugged him back, enjoying the feeling of being wrapped up in her brother’s arms. Carter was always a great hugger, and she missed hugging him every day.

After they pulled away and said their goodbyes, Carter unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. He waved goodbye to Cam and shut the door. Camellia watched him walk down the sidewalk and open a door. Once he was inside, Camellia started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

As Cam began driving home, her thoughts wandered to Louis. She hadn’t received any texts or gotten any calls from him all day. She knew she promised herself that she would give him space, but her curiosity was getting stronger. She really wanted to know why Louis ran away from home. She was also worried that Louis was mad at her, at least that’s what she told herself as she took a left turn rather than the right turn that took her to her street. In that moment, she decided that she was going to go visit Louis and talk to him. She wasn’t sure if she would ask him why he ran away, but she did want to make sure that they were okay.

It was already dark out when Cam left with her brother, but now the sky was nearly pitch black as she drove towards the forest. The sky was cloudy, but she could faintly see the moon hiding behind the clouds. The forest almost looked like a mass of black as she approached it. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was a good idea to go see Louis so late. Something inside of her told her to leave immediately and that it wasn’t safe, but she ignored that little voice and drove into the forest. She had a feeling that she would regret going to visit Louis so last minute, but she just ignored it.

It took her nearly fifteen minutes, but she eventually found Louis’ large cabin that was located deep in the woods. The curtains were dark so Cam couldn’t tell if the lights were on or not. She didn’t see Louis’ car. Maybe Louis wasn’t home.

Camellia parked her car anyway, figuring that she may as well see if he is. She got out and slammed the door behind her. A cold gust of air hit her and she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself to try and keep herself warm. She walked down the dirt pathway leading to the steps of Louis’ porch. The steps creaked under her feet as she jogged up them. When she reached the front door, that same feeling of excitement came back. She didn’t know why she felt excited. Maybe she was just mistaking it for fear since she was getting creeped out by the forest.

Inhaling and exhaling shakily, she raised her fist and knocked on the door three times. She heard heard heavy footsteps approaching the door quickly, and then suddenly it was thrown open, revealing Louis in a plain white T-shirt and grey sweat pants.

Louis looked relieved at first, but once he realized it was Camellia, it was replaced by shock, disappointment and what looked like fear.

“Cam…What are you doing here?” Louis asked quickly. He sounded anxious.

“I wanted to talk to you,” she answered. “Do you mind if I step in?”

Louis shook his head and leaned against the door frame. “No. I mean, yes, I do mind. Now’s really not a good time, Cam. Can we later?”

Camellia looked down at the doorknob and noticed Louis had a vice-like grip on it. His knuckles were turning white.

“Now would be better,” she insisted.

Louis narrowed his eyes at her. “Look, I’m really busy and I can’t talk right now. Whatever you need to talk to me about will have to wait,” he growled. Cam’s eyes widened because woah, he growled.

“It’s really important,” Cam said. “Please, Louis.”

“No!” Louis snapped, voice loud and angry, startling Cam. “I can’t fucking talk right now. I’m busy!”

“You don’t look busy,” she said, looking down at his sweats.

Louis looked down and rolled his eyes. “Well I am. You need to leave,” Louis said firmly. His grip tightened on the doorknob.

Not wanting to leave, she decided to just confront Louis about the previous night. He was closing the door when Cam asked, “Why did you run away from home?”

Louis froze, door half-closed and eyes wide. He slowly reopened it and stared at Cam, his face scrunching up in a glare.

“What did you just say?” Louis asked slowly, voice low and rough. He sounded very angry.

Camellia felt her confidence disappear at Louis’ tone and his glare, but she swallowed down her fear and repeated her question. “Why did you run away from home?”

Louis’ eyes darkened. The shadows on Louis’ face made him look darker and scarier. His eyes appeared to almost glow in the dark.

“That’s none of your business,” Louis answered in a growl.

“Please, Louis. I know something must have happened to make you run away. If you won’t tell me, you should at least tell Harry. He was your best friend and he deserves to know what happened to you.”

Louis closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let it out through his nostrils. With his eyes still closed, he said, “I’m not telling you or him,” harshly. He opened his eyes again and said, “Get off my property.”

Cam sighed, knowing she shouldn’t have asked the question. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I’m nosy and my curiosity got the best of me. You should really tell Harry, though. He deserves answers.”

Louis shook his head. “I’m not telling him any-AHH!” Louis suddenly shouted, grimacing in pain and putting a hand on his back. Camellia furrowed her brows in confusion and concern.

“Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.

Louis breathed heavily and shook his head. “You need to leave-AHH!” he cried out, clenching his eyes shut. His knees wobbled beneath him and Cam could tell he was about to collapse.

“Louis!” she shouted when he collapsed to the ground, grunting in pain when he fell on his back. Cam rushed in and shut the door behind her, kneeling by his side and patting his face to get his attention. “Louis, what hurts?”

Louis didn’t answer, just let out what sounded like a growl. He pushed her away and got on his hands and knees, shakily getting up. Cam tried to help him, but he swatted her hand and said, “Get out of my house!”

“But you’re in pain! I’ll leave if you let me help you,” Cam said, not wanting to leave Louis in his current state.

“I’ll be fine, Cam! Just leave!” Louis snapped. He whimpered and leaned against the wall, heavy breaths falling from his lips. “Please,” Louis pleaded, voice softer this time. His eyes met hers, and she could see how much he was pleading with her. She didn’t know why he wanted her to leave so bad. She understood that he wanted her to leave because he was mad at her for trying to get in his business, but he seemed almost desperate, which was strange.

“No,” Cam deadpanned. “I’m not leaving until I know you’re okay.”

Louis growled and pushed himself off of the wall. He stumbled away from her, pants and grunts and whimpers falling from his lips as he made his way into another room. Cam followed quickly, wanting to know what Louis was doing. He needed to lay down and rest.

Cam followed him into what looked like the kitchen. It was dark in there, but Cam could make out a large island in the middle. Louis was still stumbling, struggling as he pulled a key off of a hook on the wall. It was large and old looking key, like the ones seen in the movies. His hands shook as he gripped it in his hands. Cam heard Louis mumbling something along the lines of, ‘Where the hell is Edgar?’.

“Louis, what are you doing? You need to lay down,” Cam said.

Louis ignored her, stumbling towards the exit. Suddenly, he yelped in pain and collapsed to the floor, dropping the key in the process. Camellia gasped and ran over to him. She tried to grab his arm to pull him up but then he yelled, “Don’t touch me!” His voice was much deeper than normal.

“Louis, what’s happening to you?” Cam asked, feeling worried about Louis’ well-being. She didn’t know why Louis was in pain, but she did know that she needed him to lie down so she could call an ambulance.

“Cam…” Louis croaked. His back was towards her. “Leave…please…”

“Louis, please let me help you,” Cam pleaded desperately. Louis said nothing, pants and wheezes leaving his mouth. Louis’ shoulders moved up and down with each heavy breath he took. She then began to hear what sounded like growls. “Louis?” she called.

Once again, Louis said nothing. Instead, he slowly got up, seeming to not be in pain anymore. He began to turn around at an agonizingly slow pace. His shoulders were hunched and his head was down, preventing Camellia from seeing his face. Some of his hair hung over his forehead and eyes. The growls were getting louder now. Camellia looked down and saw his fists were clenched tightly.

“Louis?” she said shakily.

There was a brief pause, then Louis looked up at her. Camellia’s eyes widened and she gasped, stumbling back as she stared into Louis’ eyes, which were no longer a soft ocean blue, but were an angry yellow-green.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Camellia felt her heart race as she stared at Louis, and it wasn’t in a good way. Louis’ yellow-green eyes were staring back at her, glowing and flaring with anger. Louis was still growling quietly. Cam stepped back, Louis taking one forward. Her breathing quickened as she felt fear course through her blood.

“Louis…your eyes…” Cam choked out, still in shock.

Louis didn’t say anything. He took another step towards her, growls growing in volume. His hands were clenched in fists and his teeth were bared.

Suddenly, he cried in pain and stumbled backwards, hunching over with one hand on his back and the other on the island, holding him up. He stared into Cam’s eyes, almost like he was sending her a silent message, before they shut and he groaned.

“C-Cam…” he stuttered, voice deep and rough, “l-leave…”

Cam was frozen in shock, eyes wide and mouth gaping as she stared at Louis. She felt like those girls in the werewolf movies who just stand there and watch as their boyfriend turns into a monster.

That’s exactly what she did.

She wanted in horror as Louis yelped again, falling to his hands and knees and growling. He arched his back upwards and screamed, Cam gasping as his spinal cord seemed to grow. His nails began to grow and sharpen and hair grew across his body. Louis’ body began to get bigger and bigger, making his clothes rip. Louis was still screaming and squirming around on his hands in knees. Cam winced every time she heard what sounded like a bone snap.

Louis’ clothes ripped and fell off his body, leaving him naked. His skin was getting darker, his muscles becoming more prominent. The fur growing on his body got longer and darker and soon coated his whole body, even his face. Louis got off of his knees and stood on his hands and feet, his knees dislocating. Cam saw a tail sprout from his behind.

The sound of bones breaking and reforming continued along with Louis’ screams. His already deep voice was getting deeper with each scream he let out. Cam gasped when she saw his nose extend and his hands and feet turn into what looked like paws. Ears grew at the top of Louis’ reforming head.

After another minute or so, Louis’ body stopped changing and he stopped screaming. He let out pants and growls as he started ahead, yellow-green eyes glowing in the darkness of the kitchen. Cam breathed heavily as she stared at creature in front of her that was definitely not Louis. Realization dawned on her as she took Louis’ wolfish appearance.

Louis was a werewolf.

And Cam was not sticking around and getting herself killed.

Carefully, Cam got on her hands and knees. Each movement she made was cautious as she slowly stood up. Unfortunately, she accidently banged her hand on the wall, which caught the werewolf’s attention. It growled at her and bared its teeth in a threatening snarl. Cam stared at it with wide eyes, wondering what it was going to do.

Suddenly, the werewolf howled. It was loud and powerful and frightening. Louis-he-it got up on its hind legs, shocking Cam and making her even more scared. The werewolf had to be at least six feet tall. It snarled at her before lunging, claws barely scratching her skin as she screamed and jumped back. Letting the fear and adrenaline take over her, she turned and ran to the closest door she could find, which happened to be the back door. She threw it open and bolted outside, not caring that it was dark and dangerous in the forest. It was more dangerous in the cabin.

Camellia heard the werewolf growl as it ran after her, footsteps quick and heavy. Cam couldn’t tell if it was running on two legs or all fours, but she didn’t look back to find out. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest and hear the blood pumping through her veins as she put all her energy into running away from the monster chasing her. This all felt like a dream – more like a nightmare – and Cam desperately wanted to wake up and find out that everything was normal. However, when she nicked her arm on a tree branch and winced in pain, she knew it was real.

The sound of the werewolf’s footsteps got quieter and quieter until she could no longer hear it. She looked behind her to see that it was gone. She slowed down to a jog and hid behind a large tree. Back pressed against the trunk, she listened carefully for any sudden noises. It was silent for a moment, only her laboured breaths being heard, when she heard a twig snap. She immediately held her breath, not wanting who or whatever it was to hear her. The sound of growling followed. Cam clenched her eyes shut, trying her best to keep quiet while silently praying to every divine being she knew of. She didn’t want to die.

She felt the tree move, and suddenly it was being lifted from the ground. Camellia screamed and turned around, backing away. The werewolf was holding the tree in its two front paws, growls and snarls and pants leaving it. It howled and threw the three to the side. Its eyes focused on Camellia, flaring with anger and hunger. Cam knew it was hunger for her blood.

It began to creep towards her, movements slow and menacing. Cam backed away from it, tears slipping down her cheeks. She was so scared, so terrified that she was going to die. Worst of all, no one would ever know until later. Would Louis know? Would he remember attacking her?

“L-Louis, please…” Cam choked out. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “It’s me, Cam. Please don’t hurt me!”

The werewolf roared and grabbed her, throwing her to the side. She landed at least ten feet away from it. She screamed when she landed on her back, pain flaring up across her whole body. The landing had a big impact on her. Her vision began to get blurry and black around the edges and she tried to move, but her body wouldn’t work with her brain. It was difficult to breathe. She could feel blood seeping from her back and through her clothes. 

The werewolf slowly approached her, growling at her with bared teeth. She tried to speak, tried to plead with it, hoping that Louis was in there and that he could hear her, but she couldn’t get her mouth open. Instead, she stared up at the wolf with dazed eyes. It raised one of its hands – paws – above its head, sharp claws ready to dig into her skin and rip her apart piece by piece, limb by limb. She wanted to scream and run, but her vision went black and she fell unconscious, leaving her body unprotected and vulnerable to the werewolf.

The werewolf growled, happy that the human was finally unconscious. Now he could kill her without having to hear her screams. He couldn’t wait to eat her heart. The heart was what he longed for. It was the best part. His mouth watered and his stomach rumbled in hunger. He hadn’t eaten in a long time, and the last time he did, it was only an animal. Animal hearts weren’t nearly as tasty as human hearts.

He raised an arm, sharp claws elongated and ready to dig into her flesh, tearing her apart piece by piece, limb by limb. It paused, some tiny part of him screaming in protest. He ignored it. He was about to tear the human open when he felt something sharp penetrate his skin. He yelped and looked at his side, seeing the end of something sticking out. He pulled it out slowly, and upon examining it, he realized it was a dart of some sort. He looked around, eyes flaring with anger as they landed on the figure of a human standing off in the distance. He growled, no longer thinking about the human girl he was about to kill just seconds ago. He kneeled close to the ground, ready to lunge at the human and kill them, when his vision suddenly went blurry. He was confused, but none the less, prepared himself to attack. His body, however, was getting heavier with exhaustion. He didn’t know what was happening to him, but he didn’t care. He glared at the human, or at least what he thought was the human since he couldn’t see well, and lunged. However, he ended up collapsing as his body was too weak and exhausted to do anything. His vision went black around the edges. He growled weakly as the smell of the human got stronger, meaning it was coming closer. Before he could do anything else, his eyes shut and his body went limp.

He was unconscious.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Cold concrete was the first thing Louis registered when he woke up. His vision was blurry and his head was pounding. His whole body ached from head to toe and he just wanted to curl up in a warm bath and sleep. He didn’t care if that sounded weird. He was in pain.

The transformations always took a lot out of him. They were extremely painful and exhausted him to no end. His bones would break and reshape along with his muscles and even some of his internal organs. Growing a tail was absolutely dreadful. It felt like Louis was being ripped apart and put back together every time he changed. It was worse than dying, in Louis’ opinion. Louis would rather die than keep going to the transformation once a month. He was too much of a coward to kill himself, though.

Louis groaned when a sharp, stabbing pain erupted in his stomach. If he doesn’t eat anything while he’s in his werewolf form, his stomach literally aches with hunger when he wakes up the next day. Eating regular food doesn’t help all that much. He imagines it’s similar to the pain a woman feels when she’s in labour. Of course, he’s not a woman, therefore he doesn’t know what labour pain feels like.

Slowly and carefully, Louis rolled onto his side, wincing every so often. His whole body hurt like hell, and it would throughout the day and the following night. It was one of the many things Louis hated about full moons. The thing he hated the most about full moons was turning into a monster who craved for human hearts. He didn’t like losing control and hurting people. He never wanted to be a killer.

Louis looked around and noticed he was in his cage. Louis had a cage he locked himself in every full moon so that he couldn’t escape and hurt someone. It was lined with silver, a weakness of werewolves, so if he tried to break it he would burn himself. It went from the ceiling to the floor. Louis had it put in after he bought the cabin.

Louis didn’t remember getting locked in the cage last night. He remembered running around in the forest and chasing after something.

Camellia.

Louis’ eyes widened as he realized that Camellia saw him transform. She saw him turn into the monster he is and she knows that he is a werewolf now. She probably hated him and never wanted to see him again. Louis was worried that she would try to expose him for what he was. He couldn’t have that.

The sound of footsteps caught his attention and he looked between the bars of his cage to see a man walk in, folded clothes in one hand and the key to the cage in the other.

“Edgar…” Louis rasped, coughing afterwards. His voice was rough and scratchy and still sort of deep from the transformation. That and he was tired as hell.

“I see you’re awake,” Edgar said. He placed the clothes down on the table by wall and kneeled down in front of the cage, kind brown eyes meeting Louis’ now blue ones. He gave him a friendly smile. “How’re you feeling?” he asked as he put the key in the lock.

Louis groaned in pain and ran a hand through his messy hair. “Like shit.”

“Ah.” Edgar removed the lock and opened the door. He stepped in and held out a wrinkly hand for Louis.

Louis thanked him and gripped his hand, letting Edgar help him up. Once he was standing, Edgar let go, only for Louis to nearly collapse again. Louis was always very weak after the transformation because it hurt so much and took so much energy out of him. Quickly, Edgar grabbed him and wrapped an arm around Louis’ shoulders, not even caring that Louis was completely nude. Louis didn’t care either. They were both used to it.

“Where were you last night?” Louis asked as Edgar helped him limp over to the table with his clothes. A black muscle tank top, grey sweatpants and black boxers were folded neatly in a pile.

“I’m so sorry. I forgot that it was a full moon,” Edgar apologized, looking and sounding both guilty and ashamed.

Edgar helped Louis keep people safe when he transformed on full moons. He lived in a cabin deep in the woods just like Louis did. One night, Louis had transformed before he could lock himself in the cage and was running in woods. Louis had smelled him and was going to kill him, but Edgar seemed to have known Louis wasn’t just a regular wolf. That, or he just didn’t want to kill an animal. He shot Louis with a tranquilizer gun, rendering Louis unconscious. The next morning, when Louis was back in his human form, he was lying on blanket on the floor. Edgar said he knew about werewolves and could tell that Louis was one. He offered to help Louis be safe and keep others safe every full moon. Since then, Edgar would come over every full moon before Louis transformed and would lock him in the cage Louis had in his basement. He would stand at the top of the stairs all night with a loaded tranquilizer gun pressed to his chest. The idea was that if Louis were to escape his cage somehow, Edgar could shoot him with a tranquilizer gun and force him into unconsciousness rather than shoot him with a silver bullet and severely injure or kill Louis. He would have clothes ready for Louis to change into the next morning since he undressed himself. The transformation ripped his clothing apart.

“How did you forget?” Louis asked, leaning on the table and grabbing his underwear.

Edgar looked away as Louis put on his boxers. He was silent for a moment before he said, “My son’s birthday was yesterday.”

Louis froze, one of his legs in the pant hole of his sweats. Edgar had a son who died a few years ago. Louis didn’t know how his son had died, just that it effected Edgar deeply.

“Oh…I’m sorry, Edgar,” Louis said softly, feeling pity for the old man.

Edgar shook his head and said, “It’s alright. It doesn’t give me an excuse to forget the full moon. I just…I was a little out of it yesterday, that’s all.”

“I understand,” Louis said, tying up the string of his sweatpants. He grabbed his shirt and slowly pulled it on, wincing in pain every so often. Once it was on, he sat on the table, wincing at the pain in his lower back. Growing a tail really hurt his backside.

Edgar, seeming to have sensed that Louis was done changing, turned around. He looked at Louis for a moment before asking, “Do you remember anything from last night?”

Sometimes, Louis couldn’t remember anything from the night of the full moon. He would usually black out and let the animal part of him take control. There were times, however, where he would remember something faintly. It wasn’t often, but it did happen.

“I, uh…yeah. I was chasing a girl.”

“Did you know this girl?” Edgar asked carefully.

Louis nodded. “Yeah…I’ve been seeing her over the past couple of weeks. Yesterday I went over to visit and one of my best mates from England was there…He told her that I ran away from home. He tried to get me to tell him why but I flipped a shit. Nearly tore him apart if it weren’t for his boyfriend, who also happens to be the girl’s older brother. They left and I tried to, but she stopped me and I pushed her down. I felt bad, so I didn’t try to contact her yesterday. She came over like ten minutes before the moon was supposed to rise. I tried getting her to leave, but she refused. Then I started changing and she was worried about me and wouldn’t leave even though I begged her to. I didn’t want to hurt her.” Louis’ eyes widened. “Crap! I think I tried to kill her yesterday! Did you happen to see her?” Louis asked, panicking. He was scared he had hurt her really bad, or had even killed her. He woke up to an aching stomach, so he couldn’t have killed her. He would have eaten her heart if he did. He shivered in disgust at the thought.

“There was an unconscious girl underneath you when I found you. I’m assuming that was her,” Edgar answered.

Louis felt his worry increase. She was unconscious? What if she was dead?

“Was she okay?” Louis asked, worried.

“Like I said, she was unconscious. I checked her out though, and she seems to be okay. Might have a concussion and sprained rib, but there’s nothing we can do about that,” Edgar said. Edgar was a recently retired paramedic. He was very good at first aid and had even worked as a doctor for a few years. Louis trusted him with anything medical.

Louis let out a breath, feeling relieved that she was most likely going to be okay. He still felt guilty though. He still hurt her and he almost killed her. He was a monster.

“I can’t believe I tried to kill her,” Louis mumbled, angry with and ashamed of himself.

“She’s sleeping in your room if you want to see her,” Edgar informed him. “Don’t wake her up though. She’ll most likely wake up in pain and she needs a lot of rest right now.”

Louis nodded and gave Edgar a thankful smile. “Thank you, Edgar…I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Edgar smiled and patted Louis’ shoulder gently, knowing it would hurt Louis if he went too hard. “I’m glad I can help you, Louis. You’re a good man. Don’t want the beast inside of you changing that.”

Louis nodded and limped his way towards the staircase. Pain shot up his backside with every step he took, and his muscles ached every time he made even a slight move. Louis supressed a wince and slowly made his way up the stairs. It took a lot of energy he didn’t have, but he managed to make it to the top anyway, panting heavily. He groaned again when he realized he had to climb up another flight of stairs to get to his bedroom on the top floor.

Slowly but surely, Louis made his way across the main floor and up the stairs. By the time he reached the top floor, Louis was whimpering in pain. He felt pathetic, and probably looked pathetic too, limping and whimpering like a dog. He almost laughed at that joke.

Louis looked down the hall, seeing his bedroom door at the end of it. He was nervous, knowing that Camellia was behind the door and that he may not like what he sees. Edgar said that she was most likely okay, but she could still be covered in scratches and bruises for all Louis knew. As far as Louis knew, his scratches wouldn’t turn her into a werewolf, but he could never be too sure. He really hoped that he hadn’t scratched her and turned her into a monster like him. That would just make him feel even worse.

Louis grabbed the doorknob and gently twisted it open, trying his best to be quiet and not wake Cam up. The door creaked quietly, and Louis paused before opening it slower. Once it was fully open, he quietly stepped in, eyes landing on the figure lying on their back on his bed.

Camellia didn’t have any scratches or bruises on her face, luckily. Her arms were on top of the blanket and her sleeves were rolled up, probably from Edgar checking to see if she had any cuts, bruises or broken bones. She had a couple Band-Aids on her arms and a large bruise. Louis recognized it from when he pushed her away the other day and she fell. He still felt bad about that.

Camellia’s skin was paler than normal, though Louis wasn’t sure if it was just because she was unconscious or if something happened to her that made her pale. Sometimes people woke up really pale. Louis figured it was a mix of both.

Louis felt nothing but guilt and relief as he stared at Cam. He was happy that he didn’t do too much damage, but felt guilty because he tried to kill her and he still hurt her. He would have killed her if it weren’t for Edgar. Louis would never be able to repay that man for everything he’s done to help Louis.

Carefully, Louis sat down on the bed by Camellia’s hips. He examined her face, admiring the way it seemed to glow in the dim lighting off his room. Her skin was pale and appeared to be really soft. He could make out a few freckles, so he guessed that she hadn’t worn makeup yesterday since he had never seen her with freckles before. It was either that or he just hadn’t looked at her closely enough.

Her soft brown hair was a mess. A few leafs and twigs were caught in tangles and Louis wanted to take them out, but he didn’t want to wake up Camellia. He sighed, wondering what he was going to tell her when she woke up. Would she remember what happened? If she did, would she be scared at Louis or mad at Louis for hurting her? Maybe both. He was scared to find out. He sort of enjoyed watching her sleep, even though he knew it was creepy. Camellia just looked so calm and relaxed when she was sleeping. Louis liked seeing her so relaxed.

All of a sudden, Camellia began to move on the bed. Louis panicked, not sure if he should get up and leave or stay. He didn’t get to choose though, because then she was opening her eyes and looking at him in confusion.

“Louis?” Camellia asked, voice soft and a little raspy. Louis found it surprisingly hot. “What am I doing here?”

Louis tried to think of something, his mouth bobbing up and down. “Uh…”

Suddenly, Camellia’s eyes widened and she gasped. She pulled the blanket closer to herself and sat up, curling herself into a ball. She stared at Louis with wide, fearful eyes. Louis knew then that she must have remembered what happened last night.

“Y-You’re a…oh my God!” Cam stuttered, her small body trembling in fear.

“Cam-” Louis tried to speak but was cut off.

“You’re a werewolf! Holy shit!” Camellia said. She brought her hands to her chest and clenched her eyes shut. “Please don’t hurt me!”

Louis felt his heart clench and he shook his head, despite the fact that Camellia couldn’t see it. “I’m not going to hurt you, Cam.”

Louis tried putting a hand on her arm to comfort her, but she only flinched. “D-Don’t touch me,” she whispered.

Louis retracted his hand and sighed sadly. He screwed up – bigtime. He had to go and blow his secret. Now Camellia was scared of him and would probably never want to be near him again. She probably thought he was a monster. He would agree with her on that last one.

“Camellia, please, let me explain,” Louis pleaded, keeping his voice soft and gentle. Camellia shook her head, clenching her eyes shut and letting out a soft cry. Guilt pierced Louis’ heart like a bullet as he watched a single tear roll down her cheek. “Cam…please,” Louis said again, voice just barely above a whisper. “I promise I won’t hurt you. I’ll explain everything to you, I swear.”

Camellia opened her eyes at that. “E-Everything?” she whispered.

Louis nodded, deciding that she deserved to know. She deserved an explanation. “Yes, everything. Just promise me that you won’t tell anyone.”

Camellia nodded her head frantically, eyes wide. “N-Not a soul,” she said shakily. Most would have thought she stuttered because she was lying, but Louis knew it was from fear.

“Okay…” Louis shuffled back so that he was sitting at the edge of the bed, giving her some space so she was less freaked out. “What would you like to know?” he asked.

Camellia wiped the tears from her eyes ad pursed her lips. A moment later, she asked, shakily, “I-Is the reason you r-ran away from home b-because you’re a…you know?”

Louis sighed and nodded, feeling a deep sadness settle into his chest at the reminder of the family he left behind. Harry’s words from the other day came to mind.

‘We all thought you were dead, Louis! There was a funeral and everything!’

All of Louis’ friends and family thought he was dead. His little sisters thought their big brother was dead. It was probably even worse because they had no body to bury.

“Yes, it was because I was a werewolf. You can say it, you know,” Louis answered.

Camellia nodded. “S-Sorry.” She paused for a moment, looking deep in thought, before saying, “How did I get here? Where are we?”

“We’re in my cabin, and you’re in my bed. A man named Edgar brought us both here,” Louis answered.

Camellia’s brows furrowed in confusion and her head tilted to the side slightly. She looked adorable. Not that Louis would tell her that. “Who’s Edgar?”

Louis sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “He lives in the woods like me. He knows I’m a werewolf and locks me in a cage I have in the basement every full moon so that I can’t go on a killing spree. He keeps a tranquilizer gun with him so that if I do somehow escape, he can just make me unconscious rather than hurt or kill me with a silver bullet.”

Camellia nodded. “Is that what that key you had was for?”

Louis nodded. “Yes. Last night, he forgot it was a full moon. I was going to lock myself in the cage since I couldn’t tell you what was happening to me. Obviously, I didn’t make it…”

Camellia nodded and looked down at her lap. “Yeah…”

Louis sighed again, feeling guilty for hurting and scaring Cam. “Listen, Cam, I’m so sorry about last night. I get you were just curious about why I ran away, and you were right, Harry does deserve to know…but I can’t tell him. And…I get that you were only trying to help me when the transformation began. I didn’t want to hurt you, but the monster in me did, and…I just can’t control myself on full moons. That’s why I lock myself away. I don’t want to hurt anyone or kill anyone and last night you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Camellia stared at Louis, nodding her head ever so slightly. Louis looked down, still feeling ashamed for his actions from the previous night. Suddenly, he felt a warm hand on his. He looked at his hand and saw a smaller, paler one resting on top of his gently. He then looked up to see Camellia was staring at him.

“It’s…It’s alright,” she replied softly. Louis’ eyes widened, shocked.

“Cam, you can’t seriously be forgiving me?” Louis asked in disbelief.

“I’m not,” Cam said, “but I accept your apology. I’ll try to forgive you, but I just…I know you’re a werewolf and couldn’t control yourself and this is also my fault because I should have left when you told me or not have come over in the first place, but…you still hurt me and almost killed me.”

Louis nodded, one hundred percent understanding. He wasn’t expecting her forgiveness, but it still hurt hearing that he wasn’t forgiven. He wouldn’t complain though, because at least she was going to try to. She was reacting better than he thought she would. He expected her to have an angry fit and storm out, calling him a monster and many other rude names as she left.

“I understand,” Louis replied. He wanted to hold her hand, but he knew it probably wasn’t a good idea. “I appreciate that you’re trying to, though.”

Camellia nodded again and pulled her hand back. “I will eventually. I just…need some time to process it, I guess.”

Louis nodded. “I get it.” He paused for a moment before asking, “Do you want something to eat?” he was hungry since he hadn’t eaten the night before, his stomach still aching with hunger. He had a feeling Camellia was hungry but didn’t want to say anything.

Camellia shrugged, answering with, “I guess.”

“Okay,” Louis said, standing up and holding a hand out to her. “Let’s go downstairs.”


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Camellia stared at Louis’ hand, hesitating. She knew that Louis wasn’t going to hurt her, that he was simply offering to help her down the stairs, but she was still scared of him. Every time she looked at him, she couldn’t help but picture him with his sharp claws and yellow-green eyes. Plus, her back hurt a lot and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to move.

“Um…”

“Is something wrong?” Louis asked, looking concerned.

“Am I, like, allowed to move yet? I mean, my back hurts and I don’t know if picking me up or walking is the best for me to do right now,” Camellia said, not wanting to tell Louis that she was scared of Louis. It was true, though. Her back hurt and she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to walk or move around.

Louis pursed his lips and nodded, looking deep in thought. “Right…your back…I’ll, um…I’ll talk to Edgar and see if it’s okay for you to walk. He said the worst you might have is a concussion or a fractured rib, but I’ll ask just to be safe.”

Camellia thanked Louis and watched him leave the room, frowning when she saw him limp every time he took a step. She wondered why Louis would be limping when she was the one who got hurt the night before. Did something happen to him after I passed out? She thought to herself.

Camellia took the time to look around Louis’ room, since it was her first time seeing it. The walls were made of round logs like the rest of the cabin. There was a large window by the left wall with black curtains hanging over it. A desk was placed under the window. It had one drawer above the space carved in for someone’s knees, and three smaller drawers on the right. A MacBook was left open on the desk and a notebook sat next to it.

There were nightstands on either side of Louis’ queen size bed. Camellia found her phone on the left one, and she let out a relieved breath. She had forgotten about her phone until now. It didn’t have any scratches or dents thanks to her screen protector and her Otter Box phone case. She picked it up and checked the time, seeing that it was half-past nine.

A picture caught her attention. She put her phone down and picked up the picture frame. She brought closer to her face and smiled when she saw a picture of Louis when he appeared to be in his teens. He skin was paler back then, and he even had what Cam would call emo hair. It was longer and darker and swept across his forehead in side bangs. Camellia remembered side bangs being popular in 2010 up to 2012, so it had to have been taken during those years. In the picture, Louis was standing between a four younger girls. They all had lighter hair than him, but had similar facial features. Camellia had a feeling that these were Louis’ younger sisters.

Louis suddenly returned to the bedroom and Cam put the picture down quickly. Louis didn’t seem to notice. Cam noticed that his limp seemed to have gotten worse in the past few minutes. He grimaced in pain every time he took a step and had to lean on the bedpost when he came in. 

A man entered the room just seconds after Louis did. He was an old man, looking to be in his sixties or seventies with his wrinkly skin. His hair was grey but appeared to be turning white. He had a thick mustache on his upper lip and thick, bushy dark eyebrows. He was at least six feet tall. He wore a red plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and dark jeans. He held a first-aid kit in one hand and a water bottle in the other.

“Hello, Cam,” he said, giving her a smile. His eyes crinkled up in the corners.

“Cam, this is Edgar. He’s just going to check everything and make sure you’re okay,” Louis said.

Camellia smiled at Edgar politely. “Hi.”

Edgar sat down on the edge of the bed, just by her waist, and placed the first-aid kit down in front of him. “You said your back hurts?” he asked as he opened up the first-aid kit. It wasn’t like those white boxes with a red cross seen on it like the ones on TV. It was a red bag with the words FIRST-AID in bold white letters.

Camellia nodded. “Yeah. I know it may just be nothing, but I don’t want to take the chance.”

“Well, you didn’t appear to have any neck or spinal injuries last night,” Edgar said, taking out a pair of medical gloves and putting them on. “As long as there aren’t any neck or spinal injuries, you should be fine. It’s actually better for you to move around if your back injury isn’t too serious.” Camellia nodded in understanding. “Alright, so you wouldn’t be able to move as much as you have been if you injured your spine. Do you mind moving forward for me so I can get a better look at your back?”

Nodding, Camellia shuffled forward on the bed so Edgar could have room. Edgar got up and went behind Camellia. He sat down on the bed and lifted up her shirt. Camellia felt a little uncomfortable, mainly because he could see her bra strap, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was only her back.

“How does it look?” she asked after a minute or so of him examining her back.

“Just some bruising. However, I think your bra may be covering something, so is it okay if I just unclip it for a minute?” he asked. Camellia hesitated. “I need to get a better look at the wound. It won’t take long.”

Camellia really didn’t want to. She didn’t know this man. He could be a pervert for all she knew. However, she knew that that was unlikely, so she nodded after a moment of hesitation. Edgar said nothing as he unclipped her bra in the back and pushed the ends aside. He hummed.

“Well?” Cam asked.

“There’s a cut near your spine. It isn’t big or deep though, so that’s good. I think the clip from your bra cut you or something when you fell,” Edgar informed her.

“Yeah, I did feel bleeding,” she replied.

“That was from a different cut on your back, which I took care of,” Edgar said, tapping her lower back where Cam just noticed a bandage was. Edgar pulled the first-aid kit closer to him and said, “I just have to sterilize the cut and bandage it. Shouldn’t take more than five minutes,” he said.

“Okay.” 

Camellia heard the sound of something being ripped open, then felt a cool cloth on her back where she assumed the cut was. Her cut stung and she winced, but didn’t complain since it didn’t hurt that much.

“Are you thirsty?” Louis asked. He held out the bottle of water Edgar had left on the bed. “We brought this up for you.”

Camellia took the bottle from Louis. “Thanks.”

“Done,” Edgar said, putting a band aid over the cut. He clipped her bra together again and stood up. Camellia looked up at him. He took an ice pack out of the first aid kit and gave it to her, saying, “Put this on your back for fifteen to twenty minutes three to four times a day. There’s no swelling, but I’d recommend avoiding things like how showers and stuff until forty-eight hours have passed. You could also try rubbing the area to relieve the pain, but don’t massage it if it causes pain.”

Camellia nodded. “Okay.”

“Thanks, Edgar,” Louis said.

Edgar removed the medical gloves and tossed them into the waste bin by Louis’ desk. “No problem. I’m glad I could help. Is there anything else you need from me?” he asked. He began cleaning up his first aid kit.

“No, I think we’re good.”

“Alright. Give me a call if you do,” he said. He zipped up the bag and waved before leaving the room. 

It was silent between the two for a moment, neither knowing what to say. The tension was thick and nearly suffocating. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Louis decided to speak.

“So, do you still want breakfast?” he asked.

Camellia thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah.” She swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “I’m not that hungry though, so you don’t have to make it right now. I know you had a long night.”

Louis let out a breath and shook his head. “Yeah, but…you’re the guest, and I just…I want to make it up to you for last night. I know breakfast isn’t really the way to do that, but it’s something.”

Camellia nodded and got up slowly, wincing in pain. “Alright. What do you have?”

“Bacon, eggs, toast, sausages. I might have pancake mix.”

Picking up her ice pack, she said, “Eggs sound good.”

“Eggs it is, then.”

*

Thirty minutes later, Louis and Cam were in the living room, watching an episode of Doctor Who on Netflix. Cam had finished her eggs and was currently lying on her stomach, the ice pack Edgar gave her resting on her lower back. Louis was still eating his, not seeming to be all that hungry. They were silent as they watched the events of the episode unfold. It was the one where the Tenth Doctor met Donna Noble for the first time.

Camellia had been wanting to ask more questions about being a werewolf, but she didn’t know if it was appropriate or not. She wanted to know the myths and truths about lycanthropy, and Louis did say he would tell her anything she wanted to know.

Another five or ten minutes later, the episode was over. Cam took the ice pack off of her back and placed it on the coffee table in front of the couch. She rolled over, wincing slightly, and faced Louis.

“You said you’d tell me anything I wanted to know. Is that offer still open?” Cam asked quietly.

Louis finished the last bit of his eggs and nodded. He swallowed his food and put his plate down, saying, “Yep.” He turned to face Cam. “What do you want to know?”

Camellia thought about it for a moment. “Do you have, like, any special powers?”

Louis nodded. “Yeah. Our hearing is stronger, we can see clearer, and our sense of smell is really strong. It sucks when you’re in the city, though. All the noise is really hard on our ears and we smell a lot of things most people wouldn’t pick up. We’re also a lot stronger and faster.”

Camellia nodded, fascinated. “Can you guys transform whenever you want or only on a full moon?”

“If you have control, you can shift whenever you want. You can even shift half-way,” Louis answered.

“What do you mean by half-way?” Cam asked.

“You don’t shift into a full werewolf, like how you saw me the other night. You can shift so you are more or less a wolf-man. You have the excessive hair, the sharp teeth, claws and different coloured eyes.” Louis paused. “I don’t have control of myself, so I can’t change or not change willingly. If I get angry, I’m more likely to shift half-way or entirely. Full moons are the worst because it’s hard even for people who have mastered the ability to control themselves struggle to not shift on a full moon.”

A sense of sadness washed over Cam. Louis looked upset when he talked about his lack of control, and she had a feeling that it was the reason he ran away from home.

“I know I already asked, but is that why you left England?” Camellia asked.

Louis sighed and nodded sadly. “Yes,” he answered. “I didn’t know I was a werewolf until I first turned on a full moon. Thankfully, I lived alone at that point, and I somehow didn’t hurt anyone. I couldn’t risk hurting anyone, especially my sisters…I love them a lot, and I couldn’t do that to them.”

Camellia felt bad for asking about the reason he left home a second time. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” she apologized.

Louis shook his head. “No, it’s fine. You don’t need to apologize…Is there anything else you want to know?” he asked.

“Yeah. Do you remember what happens when you transform on a full moon?” Cam asked.

Shrugging, Louis said, “Sometimes, but not really. I’m usually locked up in my cage when it’s a full moon, so even if I did remember anything, it would just be me in the cage. I sometimes get brief flashbacks, but they’re never that clear.” Louis cleared his throat. “Is that it?”

“One more. Are you okay? You were walking with a limp earlier,” Cam said, feeling concerned for Louis.

Louis flicked his hand dismissively. “Eh, I’ll be alright. Shifting from human to werewolf and back is a really painful process. I won’t go into details.”

Camellia nodded again. Yeah, I saw that last night, she thought to herself, remembering how frequently and how loud Louis screamed as he changed forms. It looked almost as painful as it probably felt. Cam had a feeling she would have nightmares about that.

Camellia yawns and stretches her arms out. Exhaustion suddenly came over her and she really just wanted to take a nap. Louis seemed to have sensed her sudden exhaustion, for he grabbed the blanket he had used last time she came over and gestured for her to come closer. Cam got the message and shuffled over, too tired to be hesitant. She leaned against Louis’ side and laid her head on his shoulder, letting Louis wrap her up in a blanket and pull her close. He was surprisingly warm and Camellia hummed as she snuggled closer.

“You’re warm,” she muttered randomly. Louis chuckled at her statement. Cam could feel his body shake with each chuckle.

Louis looked down at her and pushed some of her hair back. A smile graced his face. Camellia hadn’t seen him smile very much, but she liked his smile and wanted to see it more often. It was a smile that made her feel all warm inside. 

“You’re beautiful,” Louis whispered softly, his voice as light as a feather. Camellia blushed and smiled back at him.

“Thanks,” she muttered. She closed her eyes and snuggled closer to him. “Why are you so warm?” 

“Dunno. I guess I just have a warmer body temperature or something,” Louis answered.

Camellia looked up at Louis again, getting lost in his eyes. They were blue with a hint of green around the pupil. They reminded her of the ocean. She would never admit it, but she was a little bit jealous of Louis because he had such nice eyes.

“You have really nice eyes,” Cam said before she even realized what she was saying. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and she covered her face with her hands when Louis started to chuckle.

“Thanks, love,” Louis responded. He pulled her hands away from her face and smiled at her. “Why are you embarrassed?”

“I don’t know,” Cam mumbled, looking down. She felt extremely shy all of a sudden.

There was a moment of silence before Louis lifted her chin up with his finger. His hands were calloused but his touch was gentle. She gazed up into his eyes and he gazed back into hers. There was a sparkle in his eye which Cam had never seen before.

He leaned in closer and whispered, “Can I kiss you?”

Camellia felt herself nodding, feeling trapped under his gaze. Slowly, he leaned in, distance between them decreasing centimetre by centimetre. Camellia didn’t know what to do. Did she lean in? Did she stay where she was? Did she do something with her hands? She ended up closing her eyes when their lips were only an inch apart. She felt Louis’ warm breath fan across her face as his lips touched hers gently. He seemed hesitant, like he was waiting for her to say or do something. Cam hesitantly nudged his lips with hers, feeling unsure about everything. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to kiss Louis, it was just that she had never kissed anyone before, not including kissing family members on the cheek. She was totally and completely inexperienced and she didn’t know what to do.

Louis seemed to have sensed this, because he took charge of the kiss quickly after that. He cupped her face in his hands and brought her impossibly closer to him. Camellia didn’t know what to do with her hands. She ended up wrapping them around Louis’ neck, finger twirling around the hair at the nape of his neck. Louis moaned softly at that and moved his hands down to her sides, gently pushing her down onto the couch so that she was lying on her back. Cam allowed him to move her down gently. The kiss broke for a moment as they pulled away to breathe. Louis climbed on top of her and straddled her waist before leaning down and kissing her again, a little more forceful this time. Cam kept her arms wrapped around his neck and Louis had his hands on her hips, gently rubbing her skin with his thumb.

After kissing like that for a few minutes, they pulled away, both breathing heavily from the lack of air. Cam’s lips were tingling from the kiss and her heart was hammering in her chest. She wondered if he could hear it.

“Wow,” Cam said quietly.

Louis smiled softly. “Yeah…wow.”

Cam blushed. “That was…um…That was nice.”

Louis chuckled at her and nodded his head. “It was...”

Camellia looked up at Louis, who was still straddling her waist and leaning over her. She could feel the full weight of his body on her now and it was making it a little hard for her to breathe. Or was Louis just so good at kissing that he literally took her breath away?

“What are we?” Cam asked. She didn’t know if kissing made them a couple or a ‘thing’ or if it didn’t make anything official. Sometimes, Camellia really hated being inexperienced in dating.

Louis shrugged his shoulders and pursed his lips. “What do you want us to be?” Louis asked.

Camellia swallowed thickly and stuttered out, “I…I don’t know.”

Louis bit his lip and stared at her face for a moment. He looked deep in thought and Camellia wanted to know what he was thinking about. She also wondered if he had liked the kiss as much as she had. He was the one to initiate it, so hopefully he did. Cam didn’t know what made someone a good or bad kisser, but she hoped she wasn’t bad.

“Cam…” Louis said, looking a little nervous, “will you be my girlfriend?”

Camellia nearly choked on her breath, but ended up staring at Louis with wide eyes. She didn’t expect Louis to actually ask her to be his girlfriend. Although, she hadn’t expected her first kiss to go the way it did either. She was hoping it would be something extremely romantic, like under the stars or in a garden or in the rain. They were all cheesy, but she had always pictured her first kiss in one of those scenes. She was perfectly fine with the way her first kiss went, though. Life wasn’t a movie and it was still sort of romantic. It was definitely enjoyable for her.

Louis’ question came to mind. Did she want to be his girlfriend? He was a werewolf and he could easily hurt her. He said so himself that he had trouble controlling himself. What if they got in a fight and he tried to hurt her? Or worse, kill her? What if he wanted to turn her into a werewolf?

Louis was sweet though. From what Camellia had learned about him, she could see that he was a sweet guy who cared about others deeply. He was a quiet man and didn’t open up to people a lot; why he opened up to Cam even before she learned he was a werewolf was still a mystery. He was kind and considerate to others and tried to make people happy. She remembered when they went to buy pizza for the movie date at his cabin, there was a homeless man sitting outside. He gave that man a fifty and even bought him some pizza and a drink. That same night, while they were waiting in line, the woman ahead of them had a baby who was crying. Louis made funny faces at the baby until it laughed.

There was also something about Louis that pulled her in. She couldn’t really describe what it was. Whenever she was around Louis, she got that sense of excitement that kept her up during the night a couple weeks ago. He was so kind to her and always tried to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

With these thoughts in mind, Camellia made a decision. She didn’t know if it was the right one, but it sure felt like a good one.

“Yes.”


	14. Chapter Fourteen

From: Carter  
Hey, we just got off the bus. Be there in a few.

Camellia read over the text once and put her phone in her pocket. Carter was coming to Cam’s house to have lunch and spend the day with her. Harry would be joining them. She didn’t know what her brother and his boyfriend would want, so she had decided earlier in the day that she would give them some options to choose from.

Camellia yawned, tired from the lack of sleep she got the night before, and raised her arms up to stretch. Pain spiked up her back and she winced, remembering that she injured her back.

It had been a couple of days since she had learned that Louis was a werewolf and they officially became a couple. It had been a little awkward after Louis asked her to be his girlfriend, the two of them leaning against each other on the couch with tense muscles. They had spent the rest of the day watching Doctor Who on Netflix. At some point, Louis had fallen because he was worn out from the full moon. Camellia ended up laying Louis down on the couch and tucking him in, leaving a note explaining that she left so he could get some sleep.

They hadn’t texted each other much since that day. Camellia wondered if that was normal for couples not to text frequently for the first few days of their relationship. She figured it wasn’t, but of course every couple is different. Louis never was one to text her frequently, or anyone, from what Camellia saw. Whenever they were together, he was almost never on his phone. In fact, she had only seen him take it out once or twice.

Maybe Louis was just antisocial or something.

However, Cam couldn’t help but worry that Louis regretted asking her to be his girlfriend. Maybe he just asked her impulsively and didn’t really want to be her boyfriend. If that were true, he could be distancing himself from her or something. Cam knew she was overthinking things a bit, but she couldn’t help it, and was constantly worried about it.

The doorbell rang suddenly, pulling Cam from her thoughts. She opened the door and smiled at Carter and Harry. Both were bundled up in thick winter jackets, woolen scarfs and toques.

“Hey guys. Come on in,” she greeted, stepping aside. Carter and Harry said their hellos and walked in. Camellia shut the door behind her and locked it.

“Jesus! It’s fucking cold!” Harry complained. He pulled off his toque and shook off the snow that had piled on top of it.

Carter chuckled when he saw Harry’s pout. “You’re just not used to it, babe,” he smirked.

Harry huffed and took off his coat. “Don’t make fun of me.”

“I wasn’t,” Carter said with a roll of his eyes. “I just find it cute when you pout.”

“I do not pout!” Harry protested, pouting once again. Carter laughed and shook his head fondly.

“You’re doing it right now, babe,” Carter told him.

Harry’s face fell and he glared at Carter playfully. “Was not.”

“You kind of were,” Cam commented, smirking when Harry rolled his eyes and shoved his toque into the sleeve of his jacket.

“Whatever,” he mumbled, hanging his coat up afterwards. Carter wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist and pulled him to his chest once his coat was hung up, pecking his nose and giggling at the way Harry scrunched it up.

“It’s fine, babe. You look adorable,” Carter promised him.

Harry rolled his eyes and pushed Carter off. “Tosser,” he murmured, but there was a fond undertone to it. Carter shrugged his shoulders and took off his coat.

“So what are we having for lunch?” Carter asked as he hung up his coat. He turned around and faced his sister.

“I was thinking I could either make pizza or order something,” she replied.

“Pizza sounds good to me.” Carter walked up to his boyfriend and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer. “What do you think, babe?”

“Sounds good to me,” he answered.

“Alright then. Pizza it is! You two go be lovey dovey in the living room while I get the pizza read.”

The two boys nodded and went to the living room while Cam went to the kitchen to make the pizza. Well, technically, it was already made; it just had to be put in the oven for half an hour. Camellia took the pizza out of the freezer and set it on the kitchen counter. She opened the box up, took the pizza out, and set it on a tray before putting it in the oven and setting it to the right temperature. She pulled out her phone and set her timer for thirty minutes. Once that was done, she put it back in her pocket and made her way to the living room.

Upon entering the living room, she found her Harry and her brother making out on the love seat. Carter was sitting in Harry’s lap, arms wrapped around his neck, while Harry’s arms were wrapped around his waist. Their lips were locked and they were trying to pull each other closer despite the fact that they were already chest to chest.

“I know I said to be lovey dovey, but this is a little much,” Cam said jokingly.

Harry and Carter immediately pulled away from each other, both startled by her voice. They were both panting heavily, presumably from the lack of air. Their lips were red and their cheeks were flushed. Whether or not it was because they were making out or if it was because they were embarassed, Cam didn’t know.

“Um…” Harry tried to say something, but words seemed to fail him. He closed his eyes and buried his face in Carter’s neck.

“Sorry,” Carter apologized. He clambered off of Harry’s lap and sat next to him instead. Despite being taller, Harry leaned into Carter’s side, resting his head on Carter’s shoulder. Carter wrapped an arm around Harry’s back and pulled him closer.

“It’s fine,” Cam said as she walked over to the couch perpendicular to the love seat and sat down on the far side of it. She shuffled so that her back was leaning against the arm of the couch and so that she was facing the gay couple. “The pizza should be ready in about thirty minutes,” she told them. “What do you want to do then?”

Harry shrugged his shoulders. Carter pursed his lips, looking deep in thought for a moment, before he said, “I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.”

Carter cleared his throat, something he sometimes did before he was about to have a serious conversation. “Have you spoken to Louis since the other night?” Carter asked.

Tension rose up in the room as soon as Carter finished speaking. Camellia didn’t know what to say or how to respond. She could be honest and tell him that she has, but judging by Carter’s tone and the look on his face, he wouldn’t be too happy with her answer. It was obvious that Carter was no fond of Louis. Cam figured it was probably because he shoved Harry against the wall the other day and threw a fit. Carter and Louis didn’t exactly meet on the best terms, so Cam understood why he wouldn’t like Louis.

Camellia looked over at Harry and saw that his expression was blank. She figured Harry wasn’t expecting Carter to bring up Louis, and that Harry was still mad at Louis – which he had a right to be. Louis did leave England without telling anyone, and he did shove Harry the other day.

Gulping, Cam answered with a soft, “Yeah.”

Just like Cam thought, Carter didn’t look happy to hear her answer. He inhaled and exhaled deeply through his nose, lips pursing and brow furrowing slightly.

“Did he say anything about the other night?” Carter asked, voice tense.

“Yeah. He said he felt bad about blowing up like that,” she said, remembering the conversation she had with Louis the day they kissed. He talked about how he felt bad for shoving Harry and that it was also embarrassing for her brother to see him like that.

Harry let out a huff and crossed his arms over his chest. “He should,” he mumbled.

Camellia didn’t respond to that. “We’re together now.”

Carter’s eyes widened and he sat up. “What?” he exclaimed.

Camellia felt herself shrink under her brother’s shocked and angry gaze. “We’re together now…”

Carter sighed, seeming frustrated, and pinched the bridge of his nose with his middle finger and thumb. “I don’t trust him. Not after he shoved Harry. I’m still pretty sure he gave you that bruise on your arm.” Cam looked down at the bruise on her arm that was slowly beginning to fade. “He obviously has a bad temper, and I don’t want you around that. He could hurt you, Cam!”

Cam knew that what her brother was saying was one hundred percent true. Louis did have a bad temper and he could hurt her. But, Camellia knew that Louis wouldn’t willingly hurt her. He couldn’t control his temper because he was a werewolf and werewolves were hot heads.

She didn’t tell her brother any of this, though.

“He’s a really nice guy and he wouldn’t hurt me. Yeah, he’s got a bit of a temper, but I’ve never seen him like that before,” Cam said.

“I don’t trust him. And also, why did he run away from home? He could’ve done something bad and he had to leave the country so he wouldn’t get in trouble.

Camellia shook her head at the thought. “I’m sure that’s not the case. Besides, it would’ve probably been on the news and Harry would know about it.”

“She has a point there,” Harry comments.

Carter sighed and dragged a hand down his face. “I still don’t trust him. Something about him seems off and I don’t like it. He’s going to have to prove to me that he’s not going to do anything to hurt you.”

Camellia nodded, not wanting to argue with her brother anymore. “Alright. Maybe we can all hang out before you guys leave. You can get to know him, and,” she paused and looked at Harry, “maybe he’ll tell you why he left.”

Both Harry and Carter nodded in agreement.

“He better not do anything to piss me off,” Carter mumbled to himself, clenching his fists on his lap. “I’ll kill him if he does anything.”

More like he’ll kill you, Cam thought.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually very proud of this chapter!

“Cam? Cam, where are you?” Louis called. His voice was frantic but distant.

Camellia tried to respond. Her lips moved but no words came out. She tried to make a sound, but could only manage a choked wheeze.

It was then that she noticed the searing pain in her abdomen. She tried to sit up to look at her stomach, but found that she had no strength. Taking in a deep breath, she tried again, only to fall back. She couldn’t move her body at all, and felt like she was almost paralyzed. She knew she wasn’t, though, because if she was, she probably wouldn’t be able to feel the pain.

Camellia looked up at the dark night sky above her. Stars were scattered across the sky, their faint twinkle giving the sky a little more light. Her eyes darted from side to side, and she saw a brick wall on each side. Cam guessed that she was in some sort of alley. She closed her eyes and felt the rough and familiar texture of concrete beneath her fingertips. Yep, this definitely had to be an alley.

‘Why am I in an alley?’ Camellia wondered. 

“Cam?” she heard Louis call again, sounding closer but just as panicked. “Cam? Where are you?”

Camellia wanted to respond. She wanted to tell Louis where she was, that she was in pain and that she didn’t why, but she couldn’t get the words to leave her mouth. So she just laid there, stomach aching with every breath she took and chest heaving with every wheeze she made. She didn’t know why her body wouldn’t do what she wanted. She hoped that Louis would find her soon.

After a few minutes, Louis’ voice got closer and was joined by footsteps. Soon enough, another body was hovering over her and Louis’ face came into view. It was dark, but Cam could see the panicked look in his eyes. She wondered why Louis looked so worried.

“Cam! Babe, can you hear me?” Louis asked, putting a hand on her shoulder and shaking her gently. Pain spiked up her chest and back and she groaned in pain. Louis quickly spewed out apologies. Louis looked down at Cam’s torso and gasped. A hand flew to his mouth and tears welled up in his eyes. “Oh God…” he choked. Cam tried to lift her head up to see what Louis was looking at, but he gently pushed her back down, saying in a shaky voice, “No, no. Stay down, love.” He wiped his eyes and took her hands. “Put pressure on this, yeah?” he instructed as he put one of her hands over the other and pressed them against her abdomen, right over the spot that hurt. She hissed in pain and felt herself panic internally when she felt warm liquid beneath her hand.

“I…” Cam managed to croak, but she couldn’t say anything else since that one sound made her throat hurt.

Louis shushed her. He then pulled out his phone and told her, “I’m calling an ambulance. Just keep putting pressure on it and stay with me, alright?”

Cam tried to nod, but then realized she wouldn’t be able to. So she just watched as Louis dialled 911 on his cell phone and brought it to his ear. He used his free hand to press down against Cam’s hands, adding more pressure.

As Louis began to speak, Cam felt her heart rate pick up. Her chest felt heavier her breaths began to come out in shallow huffs. Her head began to feel lighter and her vision blurred around the edges. She felt her eyes flutter shut as a sudden wave of exhaustion hit her out of nowhere. She felt Louis pat her face, probably to get her to open her eyes again. Louis’ voice reached her ears, but it was muffled and she couldn’t make out what he was saying. Seconds later, she felt herself drift into unconsciousness.

***

Cam’s eyes snapped open and she sat up quickly. She pushed the heavy comforter off of her body and lifted up her pajama shirt, sighing in relief when she saw nothing but the pale skin of her stomach. She looked around her room and took deep breaths as she realized that it was a dream – or, rather, a nightmare.

It took a few minutes of deep breathing and reminding herself of where she was before she finally calmed down. The dream had felt so real.

Cam picked up her cell phone and turned it on. The device came to life and displayed the Apple logo. A minute or so later, it went to her lock screen. The clock on her phone said that it was ten-thirty in the morning, which was shocking, since Camellia didn’t usually sleep in that late. She shrugged it off. It wasn’t a big deal. People sleep in all the time. She didn’t have work to go to, nor did she have any sort of meeting or appointment to go to, so it wasn’t like she was late for anything. She needed a good, long sleep, although her sleep wasn’t exactly good.

Cam unlocked her phone. Her eyes widened when she saw that she had five text messages. She tapped on the Messages icon and saw that all five texts were from Louis. Louis wasn’t one to text a lot, and whenever they texted, it was usually Cam who started the conversation. She scrolled up and read the texts from the beginning.

Today 9:30 AM  
Hey 

Today 9:35 AM  
U there?

Today 9:40 AM  
R u still sleeping??

Today 10:00 AM  
R u awake yet??

Today 10:15 AM  
Wake up plz.

Cam smiled at Louis’ texts. Louis used a lot short forms when texting, and though Cam sometimes found it annoying when people used it consistently, she found it almost adorable when Louis did it, which was weird. However, Louis was her boyfriend and she guessed it was normal for couples to find simple things cute when their significant other did it.

Wanting to take advantage of this opportunity (Louis almost never started the conversation when texting), Cam typed up a reply.

To: Louis  
Hey! Sorry, I was sleeping. What’s up?

Almost immediately, she got a reply.

From: Louis  
Nm. I wanted to talk to you.

To: Louis  
What about?

From: Louis  
Idk. Anything.

Cam rolled her eyes at this.

To: Louis  
That’s helpful.

From: Louis  
Im a very helpful person ;)

Camellia chuckled and got up, figuring she should get dressed and make herself something to eat. Her phone buzzed in her hand and she looked at her screen, seeing she got another text from Louis.

From: Louis  
We should hang out 2day.

Cam was about to agree, but then she remembered that she was going to go see a movie with Carter.

To: Louis  
I don’t know if I can. I’m supposed to see a movie with my brother today.

Suddenly, she got another text. This time, it was from Carter. She opened up the message and read it quickly.

From: Carter  
Hey. I’m not feeling well today, so is it okay if I just stay at the motel and rest? We can see the movie tomorrow if you want.

To: Carter  
Aww  That’s okay. We can totally reschedule. Get well soon! <3

Once she sent the reply to her brother, she opened up her messages with Louis and sent him another text.

To: Louis  
Never mind. He’s not feeling well so we’re not hanging out today.

From: Louis  
Yay! 

Cam chuckled, smiling fondly without even realizing it. She went to her dresser and pulled out a pair of dark jeans. She pushed her drawer back in and went to her closet, tossing her phone on the bed as she did so. She looked through her clothes and decided on wearing a white tank top and a beige knitted cardigan. She tossed the clothes on her bed, pulled a bra out of her lingerie drawer, and stripped herself of her pajamas. Once she had finished changing, she grabbed her phone and went to the bathroom to do her morning routine. Her phone buzzed in her hand when she entered the washroom.

From: Louis  
So where r we hanging out? My place or urs?

To: Louis  
I don’t know. You choose.

From: Louis  
Ur place then. C u at 11.

Cam typed out ‘okay’ and sent it, then locked her phone and placed it on the counter next to her makeup bag. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, put on acne cream (she was twenty-four and still got some acne, much to her dismay), and moisturized her face. Feeling lazy but still wanting to look nice for Louis, she decided to just use a little bit of concealer and foundation, and a thin layer of mascara. She brushed her hair and left it at that.

Just as she was leaving the bathroom, the doorbell rang. She jogged down the hall and opened the door, smiling when she saw Louis.

“Hey! You’re early,” Cam greeted.

“Am I? Oh well.” Louis shrugged, seeming not all that apologetic. He lifted up a brown paper bag with a familiar logo on it and said, “I don’t know if you’ve eaten yet, but I figured I’d bring some McDonalds anyway.”

“Oh, thanks! I was just about to make myself some breakfast, actually,” Cam replied, stepping aside to let Louis in. He hurried inside.

Cam shut the door and turned around to face Louis, only to be embraced in a tight hug. She was shocked for a moment, but then wrapped her arms around Louis, awkwardly returning the embrace. She heard a quiet chuckle and looked up to see Louis smiling down at her.

“Hi.”

Cam smiled back. “Hi.” She felt a little awkward. 

Over the past couple weeks, Cam had learned that Louis was a bit clingy. It wasn’t that noticeable when they first started going out, but once they became an official couple, he started to get clingier. Cam found it a little uncomfortable at times, but she was also an awkward person and didn’t have much physical interaction with anyone. She thought that Louis may be clingy because he had lived alone for so many years and barely interacted with anyone, so he probably craved physical contact or something. Cam didn’t want to assume anything, but it was a logical reason. She didn’t want to call Louis out on it, though.

“How are you?” Louis asked, still holding her tight.

“Good,” she answered, feeling her cheeks flush a little.

“Just good?”

Cam nodded. “Yep.”

Louis pulled away from the embrace and unzipped his coat. “Well, that’s gonna change now that I’m here.”

“Okay.” Cam didn’t know how to respond to that. She knew that Louis was flirting, and she knew that the normal thing to do would be to flirt in response, but she had never been in a relationship before and she was an awkward person and she just didn’t know how to act around Louis. There was also the fact that he made her nervous, and whether or not that was a good thing was still a question. Whenever Louis was around, there were butterflies in her stomach. Was that normal?

Louis shrugged off his coat and hung it up on the coat hanger. He then picked up the bag of McDonalds. “Where shall we eat?”

“Um…the living room, I guess.”

She led Louis to the living room and sat down on the couch, leaving room for Louis. Once Louis sat down on the couch, Cam leaned forward and pulled the coffee table close enough for them to have easy access to their food.

“Want me to put the TV on?” she asked, grabbing the remote and holding it up.

Louis shrugged and pulled food out of the bag. “Sure. Let’s see what’s on.”

Camellia turned the TV on and flipped through the different channels, telling Louis to stop her if she landed on something he liked. As she switched between channels, she landed on an episode of Teen Wolf. She paused on it, wondering why they were playing the show in the morning. Louis scoffed beside her, and she looked over to see him shaking his head.

“What?” Cam asked.

“I hate that show,” Louis said, nodding at the television screen. “The acting is awful, the episodes aren’t interesting, and they got a lot of stuff about werewolves wrong,” he continued, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“Oh.” Cam decided not to mention the fact that she liked the show. However, she felt that she wouldn’t watch it as much (if at all) now that she was dating an actual werewolf. She remembered Louis saying that a lot of what they say about werewolves on the show isn’t true, and her curiosity got the best of her. “What did they get wrong on the show?” she asked.

“Well, the whole thing about werewolves being able to take away someone else’s pain isn’t true. Werewolves can’t take away someone else’s pain. Then there’s the whole memory transference thing. We can’t do that either. Also, the show says that werewolves can’t be intoxicated by alcohol and that we can sense illness. Now, I’m not one hundred percent sure about the whole illness one, but I believe we can’t sense illness. I mean, maybe an Alpha can, but I certainly can’t. We can definitely get drunk, that’s for sure. Oh, and when the main character changed in the first episode, he didn’t even change all that much. He just grew some claws and extra hair, his ears and teeth changed, and his eyes went yellow. When you’re a werewolf, you change to full form, unless you have the ability to change part way,” Louis explained.

Camellia nodded, processing all the information. “Wow.” She then realized something. “Wait, if you don’t like the show, then how do you know all that stuff about it?”

Louis’ face fell, making Cam regret her question immediately. “My, uh…my sisters watched it all the time when I lived in England. They’d force me to watch it with them sometimes.”

“Oh.”

Louis shook his head and leaned back on the couch. “Whatever. I don’t want to talk about it. Can we switch the channel, please?”

Camellia only nodded and changed the channel again. After a few minutes of channel surfing, they landed on a channel playing Spiderman, a movie they both liked, and agreed to watch it. Louis pulled out their food and pushed Cam’s over to her. He placed a water bottle next to it, telling her that he didn’t know if she liked coffee or not and didn’t want to waste any money. Camellia thanked him for getting breakfast and unwrapped her McMuffin.

The two of them leaned against each other as they ate and watched the film. Louis wrapped an arm around her at one point, pulling her closer. Cam didn’t mind so much this time. She felt less awkward than usual and it was nice since it meant she was beginning to break out of her shell.

About twenty minutes into the film, Cam had finished her food. She scrunched up her garbage and put it next to Louis’ on the coffee table. She leaned back into him, smiling a little bit when she felt his other arm wrap around her stomach. She closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose, breathing in the musky scent that came off of Louis. Cam could only describe it as a woodsy scent. It was a sort of soothing smell. Camellia had always like taking a walk through nature, and loved camping as a kid. The sound and smell of the nature that surrounded her gave her a sense of tranquility.

Thinking about the forest and nature got Cam thinking about Louis’ cabin in the woods and the reason why he lived in the woods. She thought about how Louis missed his family and friends from back home, then about the fight he had with Harry a few days ago. The Louis had never mentioned Harry, it was obvious that they were close. Harry seemed to know Louis’ family well, and he seemed very upset whenever Louis was brought up. Camellia remembered seeing a picture of Louis with a curly-haired boy the first time she went to his place, and thinking about it now, she realized that it was a picture of Louis and Harry when they were younger.

As Cam thought about Louis and Harry, she felt a bit sad. She knew Louis didn’t want to leave his friends and family and that he only ran away because he didn’t want to hurt anyone he loved, but Harry did have a point. Louis could have at least told them where he was going, or at least that he was leaving the country. His friends and family thought he was dead now and it made Cam sad. They didn’t know that Louis was alive; that he was just in another country.

An idea suddenly popped into Cam’s head. Since Carter brought Harry along, she could easily get him to come over to talk to Louis. However, she knew that Louis probably wouldn’t want to tell Harry the real reason why he ran away from home. Cam understood, and if she were in Louis’ position, she would probably feel the same way, but she knew that leaving everyone Louis loved and cared about hurt him, and that he felt bad about not giving them a reason as to why. He hadn’t said anything, but she could see it in his eyes when he talked about his family. She knew he missed everyone, and maybe telling Harry would make him feel less guilty.

As Cam debated whether or not she should suggest to Louis that telling Harry the truth is a good idea, Louis placed a finger under her chin and turned her face towards him. His brows were furrowed in confusion and slight concern.

“Are you alright, love?” Louis asked. “You were zoned out for a bit. Looked a little worried, too.”

“Oh.” Cam paused. “I’m fine. I was just thinking about something.”

“What were you thinking about?” Louis asked.

Camellia sighed, deciding to take a change and tell Louis her idea. It would do him some good if he went through with it. “I was thinking about…well, I had an idea and…Okay, just hear me out-”

“Spit it out, love,” Louis said with a chuckle.

Cam licked her lips, a nervous habit of hers, and quietly said, “I think that you should tell Harry the reason you ran away from home.”

Louis’ reaction was immediate. His eyes darkened and he pushed her away from him, not hard though, just enough so that were was a little bit of space between them. She saw his muscles tense and his fists clench on his lap. She felt herself get nervous as she watched him.

Louis exhaled through his nose sharply. “Why would you suggest that?” He spoke in a tone that was passive aggressive.

Cam gulped and said, “Because Harry’s your best friend-”

“Was my best friend,” Louis interrupted.

“And I can tell that you feel bad about running away from home…I think that if you at least told him about it, you wouldn’t feel as bad, and he could live his life knowing that you aren’t dead. We could make him promise not to tell your family, because I know you aren’t ready for that and may never be, but…”

Louis huffed and stood up, fists clenching at his sides. “I ran away from home for a reason. If I felt like I could trust Harry with this secret, then I would have told him before I ran away.”

Camellia tensed at how rough his voice had gotten. “But he was your best friend! You can trust him.”

“Even if I did tell him back then, he probably wouldn’t have believed me! And if he knew that I was planning on running away, he probably would’ve stopped me or would’ve told my mum! I couldn’t let that happen!”

“I understand,” Cam said calmly, standing up as well. “But don’t you think he should know? I mean, he knows you’re here now, and there’s no one stopping him from telling your family where you are.”

“Fuck,” Louis cursed. “You’re right.”

Louis turned around and walked away from her. He went to the front hall and began to pace back and forth, tugging at his hair while muttering things to himself. Camellia hesitantly went over to him, keeping at least three feet between them as she watched him. With Louis being a werewolf and having a bad temper, she didn’t know when he could lash out, and she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it. She did want to calm Louis down, though.

“If you tell him the truth, you can also convince him to not tell your family,” Cam said hesitantly. Louis continued to pace, not saying anything to her. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Don’t you think that he at least deserves an explanation? He was your best friends, and if you refuse to tell your family, you should at least tell him.”

Louis suddenly spun around to face her, his eyes a glowing yellow-green. There was a fire in his eyes that terrified the hell out of Cam and made her want to run away. He glared at her and snarled, “You don’t know what it’s like to be in my shoes!”

Cam gulped and felt as if she was shrinking under Louis’ angry gaze. “I-I’m sorry.”

A growl fell from Louis’ lips before he stormed over to her and grabbed both of her arms. He was rough with her as he shoved her against the wall, his grip on her arms only tightening. He held her up slightly so that her feet were just barely dangling above the floor. Cam squeaked in pain and fear as Louis held her against the wall and glared up at her. She could feel his claws elongating, their tips lightly pressing against the skin of her arms.

He bared his teeth at her and growled, “You have no right to tell me what to do when it comes to my family and friends! I made my choice and nothing can change that! I don’t want to tell Harry why I left and I refuse to tell him or my family! Is that clear?”

“Y-Yes,” Cam stuttered, terrified.

Louis growled again and said, much louder this time, “IS THAT CLEAR?”

“Yes!” Cam cried, her body trembling in fear. Tears were welling up in her eyes, both because of how scared she was and because Louis’ grip on her arms was awfully painful. There were definitely going to be bruises there later. “I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me!” she whimpered, feeling pathetic and helpless.

Louis just stared at her for a moment, eyes still yellow and glowing, but then they faded to their normal colour and his face softened. He inhaled and exhaled deeply for a moment, seeming to have calmed down a bit, and then carefully lowered her to the ground. He removed his hands from her arms and stepped back, breathing heavily.

It was silent for a moment, the air still tense. Cam wrapped her arms around herself, gently rubbing where Louis had gripped her and holding back a wince when she felt them throb in pain. Her eyes were still glassy and she was doing all she could to hold back her tears and sobs. She didn’t want to cry right now.

“Fuck,” Louis swore, having finally calmed down enough to think normally. He realized what he had done to Cam and felt awful about it. Not only had he scared her, but he hurt her, too. “Cam…I’m so sorry!”

Camellia closed her eyes, not wanting to look at Louis at the moment. All she could see was him glaring up at her with angry, yellow-green eyes that were full of fire and bloodlust. She heard quiet footsteps towards her, then felt a hand rest on her arm. She flinched and let out a wince. Louis had touched her right where he had grabbed her.

“Cam…please look at me,” Louis pleaded, voice soft and gentle compared to how it was only minutes ago, when it was loud and rough and angry. Cam refused to open her eyes, shaking her head to tell Louis. She heard him sigh and then say, “C’mon, love…please look at me,” he pleaded again.

Camellia sniffled and clenched her eyes shut, shaking her head once again. “I-I can’t,” she whimpered.

“Why not?” Louis asked.

Cam just choked on a sob that bubbled past her lips. She tried to fight off the tears, but ended up sobbing anyway, tears streaming down her face. She tightened her arms around herself and kept her head down, sob after sob falling from her lips. Her heart was thumping from the fear that she was feeling at the moment. Louis had hurt her and it made Cam second-guess their whole relationship. She thought that Louis would be able to control his temper enough that he wouldn’t lash out at her, but she was wrong. Maybe being with Louis wasn’t a smart choice.

She stood there for a minute or so, trembling and crying and sniffling and just an outright mess, before she felt a pair of arms wrap around her upper back. She squirmed, not wanting Louis to touch her or even be that close to her. But Louis was a werewolf, and he had super strength, so her efforts were futile. In the end, Louis won, and he held her close as she sobbed into his chest, each one slicing deeper into Louis’ heart.

Louis shushed her and rubbed her back gently. “Shh…It’s alright. You’re alright…I’m sorry, love. I’m so, so sorry.”

Camellia shook her head and continued to sob. “You…h-hurt…me,” she choked out before sobbing once again.

Louis felt his heart clench and his closed his eyes. He swallowed the lump in his throat because he didn’t deserve to cry. He was the one who hurt Cam, so she was allowed to cry all she wanted. Most guys wouldn’t admit this, but if he were Cam, he’d probably be crying as well.

“I know. I’m so sorry, Cam. I am so, so, so sorry,” he apologized. He wished he could show her how awful he felt, how absolutely guilty he felt and how much he hated himself for hurt her. He promised himself that he would never hurt her, and he already broke his promise to himself. He shushed her and rubbed her back in slow, soothing circles. “I know I screwed up, but can you please calm down? I don’t want you to make yourself sick.”

Cam choked on another sob and shook her head. He sighed and tried to think of a way to calm her down. An idea suddenly came to mind. When he was younger and had to calm his sisters down when they woke up from a nightmare or got hurt while playing, he would sing a song to them. It worked like a charm back then, so maybe it would work now. They were completely different scenarios, though, so Louis was unsure.

“I close both locks below the window…I close both blinds and turn away,” Louis sang softly. It had been a few years since he sang to anyone, and it felt weird to be singing to someone again. “Sometimes solutions aren’t so simple…Sometimes goodbye’s the only way. And the sun will set for you…The sun will set for you. And the shadow of the day will embrace the world in grey. And the sun will set for you…”

Louis paused and looked down at Cam. Her sobs had reduced to occasional hiccups and sniffles. Her eyes were still shut, but tears were no longer streaming down her face. There were only dry tear marks left. It was then Louis realized that he was slowly swaying them from side to side while he held her close.

“In cards and flowers on your window…your friends all plead for you to stay. Sometimes beginnings aren’t so simple. Sometimes goodbye’s the only way. Oh…And the sun will set for you…The sun will set for you. And the shadow of the day will embrace the world in grey. And the sun will set for you…”

Louis repeated the chorus a few more times, singing it in her ear gently as he swayed them from side to side. Cam was only sniffling by the time he finished the song. She rubbed her eyes with her fists and slowly looked up at Louis. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and her face was flushed, but she still looked beautiful, much to Louis’ surprise. Usually when people cry, they don’t look attractive, but Cam was an exception to this.

“There we go,” Louis said softly. He gave Cam a tiny smile and hesitantly pushed a stray out of her face. She sniffled and stared up at him silently. Louis moved his hands to her shoulders and moved his thumbs in soothing circles. “Are you calm now?”

Cam nodded silently, a quiet sniffle being the only noise she made. Louis saw a box of tissues on the coffee table and quickly went over to grab it. He returned to his previous spot and held out the box to Cam, who took a tissue and blew her nose into it. She wiped under her nose with it and held it in her hand, not wanting to just leave it on the floor.

A sigh fell from Louis’ lips as he stared into her bloodshot eyes. “I’m really sorry, Cam,” he apologized. “I really didn’t mean to get like that.”

Cam nodded and looked down. “But you did,” she croaked.

Louis sighed sadly and nodded. “I know.” He looked down, feeling ashamed of himself for losing his temper and lashing out like that.

Cam looked up and saw the sadness etched into Louis’ features. She knew deep down that Louis couldn’t control his temper. He told her that werewolves naturally have bad tempers and since Louis can’t control his wolf or his temper, he has trouble controlling himself. She knew that Louis didn’t really mean to hurt her, but he still did and she still didn’t trust him.

But Cam did have some fault in this. She should have left Louis alone when she saw him getting angry. She shouldn’t have pushed him to agree with her. In fact, she shouldn’t have even suggested that he tell Harry what he was in the first place. She knew that he wouldn’t agree to it yet she still suggested it anyway. God, she felt like an idiot. This was all her fault, really.

“I-I’m sorry,” she apologized, bowing her head shamefully.

Louis’ head snapped up at that and his brows knitted together in confusion. “What are you sorry about?” he asked in confusion.

Cam sniffled and looked up, hesitantly meeting his gaze. “I-I shouldn’t have suggested that you tell Harry the truth. I knew you wouldn’t want to but I suggested it anyway. It was stupid of me and I won’t bring it up again.”

Louis sighed and shook his head. “No, love. You don’t need to apologize. I overreacted and lashed out when it wasn’t necessary. I’m the one at fault here, not you. Please don’t blame yourself for this,” Louis told her.

Cam sniffled and nodded. “O-Okay.”

Louis licked his lips nervously and said, “Are you still mad at me?”

Camellia shrugged because she honestly didn’t know anymore. “I-I don’t know…”

“I’m really sorry. I understand if you want me to leave. Just…please don’t break up with me,” Louis begged.

Cam knew that she should send him home and that she should break up with him, but something inside her told her not to do any of that. Right now, she just wanted to lie down and get some sleep. Cuddling wouldn’t be so bad, either. So she shook her head and said, “No…stay.”

Louis looked shocked but relieved. “Are you sure?”

Cam shrugged her shoulders. “Not really…I just want to lie down right now. Can we talk about this later?”

Louis nodded. “Sure. Let’s get you somewhere comfy.”

Cam went into the living room, Louis following after her. She sat down on the couch and Louis just stood a couple feet in front of her. Cam stared at the floor while Louis stared at her, both staying silent, unsure of what to say.

When Cam rubbed her arms, which were still sore from earlier, Louis noticed. “Do your arms hurt?” he asked.

Cam hesitated, but nodded. “Yeah.”

“Do you want me get some ice for them?” he asked.

Cam nodded again. “Yes please.”

Louis went into the kitchen and returned about thirty seconds later with two ice packs wrapped up in dish towels. He sat down next to Cam on the couch, leaving at least a foot between them, before he said, “You’ll have to take your cardigan off.”

Cam nodded silently and slowly pulled off her cardigan. Once it was off, she bunched it up and threw it onto the recliner near the couch. She looked at her arms and nearly gasped when she saw faint bruises already forming. She looked at Louis to see him staring at her arms, looking both angry and guilty. He sighed and met Cam’s gaze. His eyes spoke a thousand apologies. Cam knew he was sorry and regretted hurting her, and that was enough to make her stay with him.

Louis handed her one ice pack and she pressed it to one of her bruises while Louis pressed his ice pack to the other. She hissed at the cold temperature but said nothing more as they sat there.

It had to be a good ten minutes of awkward, tense silence before Louis spoke again. “I’ve been thinking…” he said, catching Cam’s attention. She turned her attention to him, raising her eyebrows questioningly and waiting for him to continue. He let out breath and said, “You were right. I do feel bad about not telling anyone where I went. I really do want to tell someone from home, and Harry was my best friend…I can’t tell my family yet, and I don’t know if I ever will, but Harry…he deserves to know.”

Cam was shocked to hear this, but happy at the same time. At least Louis agreed with her. She swallowed and said, “Okay…So are you going to tell him?”

Louis nodded. “Yeah, and I was hoping that…you’d be here with me.”

Nodding for the umpteenth time, Cam said, “Yeah…of course. When do you want to tell him?”

Louis bit his lip and thought about it for a moment. He then decided, “Today…I want to tell him today.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

“Are you sure?” Camellia asked.

Louis nodded, seeming sure of himself. “Yeah, today.”

“Okay,” Cam said. “Are you going to call him, or do you want me to ask Carter if Harry can come over?”

“Ask your brother,” Louis answered. “I deleted Harry’s number after I left England, and I changed mine when I moved here. I had it memorized at one point, but it’s been years.”

“Okay. I’ll call him,” Cam said.

She placed the ice packs on the coffee table, picked up her phone and unlocked it. She went to Carter’s number and called him. The phone rang a few times before he finally answered. His voice was soft and slurred, indicating he had just woken up.

“Hello?” he asked groggily. His voice sounded a bit nasally, reminding Camellia that he was sick.

“Hey, it’s me,” she said.

“Cam? What’s up?” he asked.

“Is Harry with you?” Camellia asked. She glanced to the side briefly to see Louis watching her with anxious eyes.

“Yeah. Why’re you asking?” he questioned.

Cam panicked for a moment, wondering if she should make up some excuse to get Harry to come over, but then decided to tell her brother the truth. She wasn’t the best at lying, so Carter would probably be able to tell if she was lying to him. There also wasn’t any good excuse she could think of that would get Harry to come over. It would be weird if she just asked to hang out with him, one-on-one. Telling her brother the truth would just be easier.

“Louis wants to talk to him,” she replied.

There was a brief moment of silence before her brother said, “Why?”

“He wants to tell him why he ran away,” she told him.

There was another pause. Mumbled voices came through the speaker for a few seconds. Her brother then said, “Put him on the phone, then.”

Cam looked at Louis and pressed the phone to her shoulder. “Do you want to talk to him on the phone?”

Louis shook his head. “No, I want to tell him in person.”

Camellia nodded, understanding Louis’ logic. The conversation Louis wanted to have with Harry would be better to have in person. If Louis were to tell Harry the truth over the phone, Harry would probably hang up, or tell Carter about it if he actually believed Louis.

Bringing the phone back to her ear, Cam said, “He wants to talk to Harry in person.”

“I don’t trust Louis. I don’t want him around you, let alone my boyfriend,” Carter said firmly, his protectiveness coming out. Camellia wanted to roll her eyes, but she understood why her brother didn’t trust Louis. If she were Carter, she probably wouldn’t, either.

“Well, I don’t think it really matters what you want in this situation. This is up to Harry. If he wants to come over and talk to Louis, he’s welcome to do so.” Cam looked at her boyfriend for a moment, saw him bite his lip, and then, sensing his nerves, gave him a reassuring smile.

There was a sigh. “You’re right…I’ll ask him. Hold on.”

Cam nodded and rubbed her left arm, directly over the bruise that was slowly forming. She looked at her boyfriend again, frowning when she saw him looking at her arm, right where the other bruise was. A sense of sadness washed over her when seeing the sorrow in her boyfriend’s eyes. She wasn’t sure if she forgave Louis for lashing out like he did, but she knew he couldn’t control himself when he got angry and she knew that he hated himself for hurting her. She could see it in his eyes that he was beating himself up, and despite the fact that he had hurt her, she didn’t want him to be sad.

“He’s agreed to come over,” Carter announced, catching Cam’s attention.

“Oh, okay.”

“I don’t want him to be alone with Louis. I don’t trust him,” Carter said.

“I’ll be with him. Nothing will happen to Harry, Carter. Don’t worry,” Cam tried to assure.

“You better be right,” Carter said. “He’s leaving now. Should be there in about twenty to thirty minutes. If Louis does anything, I’m going to come down there and talk to him myself.”

“You won’t need to do that,” Cam told him. “I’m sorry I woke you. Get some rest. Love you.”

“Love you too,” he said before hanging.

Camellia locked her phone and put it on the table before turning her head to look at Louis. “He’s on his way.”

“I heard.” Louis stood up and shoved a hand in one of his pockets. “I need to step outside for a few minutes,” he said.

Camellia stood up as well, turning so that she was facing Louis. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and asked, “Why? Is something wrong?”

Louis pulled something out of his pocket and Cam’s face fell when she saw what it was; a pack of cigarettes.

Camellia hated smoking with a passion. Both of her grandfathers were heavy smokers and died of lung cancer while she was in her teens. She was close with them and their deaths left two huge holes in her heart.

There were other reasons Cam hated smoking. First of all, the smell of the smoke was just awful. Second of all, smoking was bad not only for the person doing it, but for people around them as well. Second-hand smoking was almost as bad as actually smoking a cigarette. Tobacco was bad for the body in many ways. It was linked to all sorts of cancers, such as throat cancer, kidney cancer, stomach cancer, mouth cancer, and lung cancer – the cancer that killed both of her grandfathers. It had other negative effects as well. Camellia just didn’t understand how someone could just do that to themselves, knowing all the bad things that could happen to them because of their bad habit.

Louis noticed the change in her emotions and his brows furrowed in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh…nothing,” Cam lied, not wanting to upset Louis by telling him that she hated smoking. He had already gotten angry with her, and she didn’t want to risk making him angry enough to lash out again.

“No, seriously. What’s wrong?” Louis asked, both looking and sounding worried.

Cam shook her head and said, “It’s nothing.”

Louis looked utterly confused, but then his eyes landed on the pack of cigarettes in his hand, and he seemed to connect the dots. “You don’t like smoking, do you?”

Cam sighed and nodded her head, giving up on pretending she didn’t care. “Not really, but it’s fine.”

Louis looked hesitant as he observed her face, noting the faint look of disgust and disapproval that she was trying to hide. “Are you sure? I won’t do it if it bothers you.”

“Louis, it’s fine. I may not like it, but I don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” Cam said, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting back down on the couch.

He stared at her for a moment, but then sighed and nodded. “Alright…I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Camellia nodded and watched Louis leave the living room, put on his coat and boots and step outside, shutting the door behind him. Cam sat in silence for a few seconds, hands clasped together in her lap and lips pursed. After a few more seconds, she got up and went to her window. Blinds hung over the window, and she pushed them down a bit so she could look through them without being noticed. She saw that it wasn’t snowing today, which was a relief because it was almost spring and it was supposed to be getting warmer. The trees swayed with the strong wind.

Her eyes drifted over to Louis. He had a cigarette in one hand and a lighter in the other. His hands appeared to be shaking as he flicked the lighter continuously before a flame finally flickered to life. He held one end of the cigarette to the flame, and once it was lit, he put the other end in his mouth and inhaled deeply. A few seconds later, he moved the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out a cloud of smoke. It floated around his face for a moment before the wind blew it away.

Camellia normally didn’t find smoking attractive, no matter how attractive the person smoking was, but Louis made it look less unattractive in some odd way. She didn’t really understand that thought, but didn’t think much of it and just watched as he took another drag of smoke.

It was about five minutes later when Louis finished his cigarette. He flicked it to the ground and stomped on the butt, crushing it under his boot. Camellia quickly went back to the couch, not wanting Louis to know that she watched him smoke. She didn’t know if that was considered ‘creepy’ – it probably was – but even if it wasn’t, she didn’t want to embarrass herself. She grabbed her phone and pretended to text someone just as Louis re-entered the house.

Louis took off his hat, coat and boots before he walked into the living room. Cam looked up at him and gave him a smile, which he returned. He sat down next to Cam and she forced herself not to breathe through her nose. She knew she was being a little dramatic, but she hated the smell of cigarettes, and she didn’t want to annoy Louis.

“Are you feeling better?” she asked, putting her phone down on the table.

“Yeah, a bit,” he answered. He leaned back into the couch.

“That’s good.”

Cam leaned back into the couch as well. Her arm brushed up against Louis’ and she suddenly wanted Louis to wrap his arm around her. She knew that she shouldn’t want that considering Louis had lashed out at her only minutes ago – in fact, she knew that a lot of people would tell her to leave if they knew what Louis had done – but she didn’t care all that much. At the moment, Camellia really just wanted to lie down in someone’s arms and sleep.

Camellia’s phone vibrated on the coffee table. She leaned forward and picked it up, seeing a text from an unknown number.

From: Unknown  
Hey, it’s Harry. I’m almost there.

A sense of relief washed over her when she saw it was Harry who texted her. Whenever she got a call or a text from an unknown number she got anxious because she didn’t give her phone number to just anybody – well, she did with Louis, but he was an exception.

“Who is it?” Louis asked, leaning over to look at the message.

“Harry.” Camellia added his number to her contact list and locked her phone screen. “He said he’ll be here soon.”

Louis nodded checked the time on the clock that hung over the television across from them. “How long do you suppose it’ll be before he gets here?”

Camellia shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe five minutes?” Someone knocked on the door, and she instantly knew it was Harry. “I think that’s him.”

Louis froze and stared at the door. His eyes had widened and Cam could see that he was both nervous and anxious. It was understandable, since he was going to tell Harry that he was a werewolf, a concept that is pretty hard to believe. There was a good chance that he wouldn’t believe Louis. If he did believe Louis, how would he react? Would he be scared of Louis? Would he be angry at Louis? If so, why? These questions were running through Camellia’s head, and she was sure that Louis was asking himself the same questions as well.

Knowing that Louis wouldn’t want to answer the door, Camellia got up, gave Louis a smile as if to say ‘you can do this’, and hurried over to the front door. As she reached the door, she realized that she probably looked like a mess with her eyes red and her makeup running. Then there were the bruises on her arms, curtesy of Louis, and she ran back to grab her cardigan which laid on the recliner. She put it on and quickly ran back over to the front door, pulling it open and greeting Harry with a slightly forced smile.

“Hey,” she greeted, stepping aside to let Harry in.

Harry mumbled a greeting and stepped in. A gush of cold wind blew over Cam and she shivered, goosebumps running up her arms. She closed the door and took Harry’s coat from him, hanging it up and leading him into the living room.

As soon as they stepped in, Harry froze. Cam looked up at Harry to see that his eyes were narrowed at Louis. She then looked at Louis and saw that he was returning Harry’s stare, except his eyes were wide. Once again, there was tension in the air. It was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

It was silent for a moment. When Camellia realized that neither Harry nor Louis were going to say something, she decided to break the silence that was consuming them. Trying not to be awkward, she cleared her throat and said, “Well, I’ll give you guys some privacy. I’ll be down the hall if you need me.”

“Wait!” Louis called as she turned to go to her room. She turned around and looked at Louis with a questioning look. “Can you stay?”

The look on his face told Cam that he was scared and wanted her support. As much as she wanted to, she knew that this conversation was personal and should be private. Louis needed to do this on his own.

“I think it would be better if I stayed out of this,” Camellia told him honestly. “Sorry.”

Before Louis could say anything else, Camellia turned around and went down the hallway to her bedroom. She closed the door but left it open just a little so that if they started fighting, she could hear them and run in to break it up. Hopefully, they wouldn’t fight.

*

Louis could feel his heart thumping erratically in his chest. It was so loud that he wondered if Harry could hear it. His hands shook with nerves and he had to take deep breaths to calm himself down. He couldn’t get worked up, because that meant he had less control over himself, which would increase the risk of lashing out at Harry and changing in front of him. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt and/or scare Harry.

As the tension between the two men got thicker and thicker, Louis got more and more anxious. He knew that he should be the one to break the silence, since he was the one who had the explaining to do, but he couldn’t find it in himself to do so. There were so many things that he wanted to say to Harry, but his brain wouldn’t connect with his mouth. It was really frustrating.

He really wanted a cigarette. He had only had one just a few minutes ago, but his nerves were building up and smoking always helped him calm down. He knew it was bad to smoke, and desperately wanted to quit the bad habit, but he craved the nicotine and it helped him stay calm. He was almost always anxious, so he smoked a lot.

He heard Harry sigh and looked up at him from where he sat on the couch to see that his eyes were still narrowed at him and that his arms were crossed over his broad chest. He looked irritated, and it was obvious he was when he said, “Well?” in an impatient tone of voice.

Louis swallowed thickly and licked his dry lips. “Sorry. Uh…do you want to sit down?”

Harry eyed the spot next to Louis and shook his head. “No. I’d rather stand.” His words came out harsh and Louis nearly winced at how short Harry was with him.

It was so strange because they used to be best friends but now Harry can’t look at Louis without glaring at him. Never did Louis think that this was what his relationship with Harry would become.

“Alright,” Louis responded. He looked down at his fingers, which were clasped together tightly in his lap, and took a deep breath. He let it out shakily. “So, you want to know why I left.” It wasn’t a question.

“Obviously,” Harry grumbled.

“You need to promise that you won’t tell Mum or the girls. They can’t know why I left.”

“That’s not fair, though!” Harry exclaimed. “They’re your family, Louis, and they have every right to know why you left!”

“Do you want to know why I left or not?” Louis asked, beginning to feel irritated as well. He knew that his family deserved to know why he left and where he was, but he just wasn’t ready to tell them. He wasn’t sure if he would ever tell them, let alone speak to them again.

A sigh came from Harry before he answered, “Yes.”

“Then promise me you won’t tell them,” Louis negotiated.

“Fine,” Harry huffed. “So, why did you run away?”

It was right after Harry asked the question that Louis realized he hadn’t thought of a good way to tell Harry why he left. He didn’t want to just say ‘I was bitten by a werewolf and ran away because I was scared I would hurt everyone’. He didn’t even know if Harry would believe him. If Harry didn’t, he had no idea what he would do to get Harry to believe him. He had no control over his ability to shift, so he couldn’t just grow a pair of claws or full out transform into a werewolf to prove to Harry that he was one.

Another wave of anxiety washed over him as he tried to think of an explanation. His mouth bobbed open and shut as he tried to form words, but nothing came from his mouth. With each passing second, he could sense Harry getting more and more irritated. He knew that if he didn’t say something soon, Harry would get mad and leave before Louis could tell him the truth.

“I don’t have all day, Louis,” Harry snapped. “If you aren’t going to tell me why you left, then I’m going to leave. I feel like I’m wasting my time.”

Louis finally looked up at Harry, having thought of a way to tell Harry the truth. He sat up straight, cleared his throat and said, “Sorry, sorry. I was just trying to think of a way to tell you.”

Harry nodded and stared at Louis expectantly. “Alright. Go on, then.”

Louis nodded and twiddled his thumbs absentmindedly, something he often did when he was nervous. His body began to shake with nerves as he stuttered out, “S-So…do you believe in, uh…w-werewolves?”

Harry stared at Louis as if he had grown two heads. A moment later, his face twisted into a glare and a fire flickered behind his eyes. 

“What the fuck has that go to do with anything?” he asked angrily.

“Just answer the question,” Louis instructed him, trying not to let Harry’s anger get to him. If he let himself get angry with Harry, he could lose control and hurt him, and he didn’t want to do that.

Harry’s nostrils flared as he stared at Louis angrily for a moment before he replied, “No, I don’t. They’re mythical creatures. Now what has that got to do with you running away from home?”

Louis felt a little disappointed that Harry didn’t believe in werewolves. If he did, it would be a lot easier to tell Harry that he was one. But he didn’t, so not only did Louis have tell Harry why he left England, but he also had to prove to Harry that werewolves existed and that he was one. That would surely be a difficult task and Louis wasn’t sure if it could be done without getting angry.

“T-That’s not…true, actually. The part about werewolves being mythical creatures, I mean,” Louis said slowly. Harry’s brows furrowed in confusion and he cocked his head to the side.

“What do you mean?” he asked, seeming a little less angry and a lot more confused.

“Well…um…” Louis paused and took a moment to formulate a proper sentence in his head. When he finally got the courage to speak, he told him, “Werewolves are real creatures. They’re all over the world. In fact, there are a lot of them in England. I know that because…” He paused again and swallowed thickly. “Because I am one.”

There was a moment of silence between them. Louis stared at the floor, unable to look Harry in the eye after what he just confessed. He knew that Harry was processing Louis’ words. He really hoped that Harry would believe Louis, because he really didn’t know how he would prove that he was if Harry didn’t believe him.

“Bullshit,” Harry finally muttered. Louis looked up at him and raised his eyebrows. Harry was once again glaring at Louis, the fire in his eyes burning brighter than before. “Absolute bullshit! I can’t believe that you’d make up some shitty excuse instead of telling me the truth! I mean, werewolves of all things! You couldn’t have at least come up with something more realistic, Louis?” Harry asked incredulously.

Offended, Louis stood up, feeling the anger begin to flicker like a flame in his stomach. His fists were clenched at his sides and he dug his nails into his palm, the dull sting that came when they broke his skin helping him stay grounded.

“It’s the truth, Harry,” he spoke, trying to sound calm. “I wouldn’t invite you here just to give you some shitty excuse.”

“But werewolves don’t exist!” Harry snapped, throwing his arms up in the air for emphasis.

“They do!” Louis insisted.

“Even if they do exist, that still doesn’t explain why you left,” Harry pointed out.

“I left because I realized it wasn’t safe for me to be around my friends and family. I was turned a month before I left. I didn’t even know I was one until the night of the full moon, when I shifted for the first time.” Harry shook his head and turned away from Louis. “Remember that camping trip I went on with my family the month before I left?”

“Yeah. So what?” Harry asked, keeping his back to Louis.

“Remember how I had to go to the hospital because I was attacked by an animal? A wolf, to be exact?” Louis continued.

There was a brief pause before Harry answered, “Yes,” in a much softer voice. He didn’t sound angry now.

The tension began to slip away, and Louis felt himself calm down a little. “That wolf was actually a werewolf. I remember that it looked too big and scary to be a normal wolf, but I told myself that it was just the fear of being killed that made it seem more monstrous than it was. However, a month later, when the full moon came, I changed for the first time…The next morning, I – I realized that I wasn’t safe to be around. I couldn’t control myself and I knew that I would end up hurting someone if I didn’t just leave. So, I packed up and left. I didn’t tell anyone where I was going because I knew they would look for me, and I couldn’t have that.” He paused and ran a hand through his hair. “I came here and bought a cabin in the woods so that when I changed every full moon, I would be isolated and there was less of a chance that I would hurt someone.”

Once again, it was silent between them. The level of tension slowly began to rise up, and with each passing second, Louis got more and more worried. He couldn’t see Harry’s face, so he didn’t exactly know how he was feeling. He didn’t know if Harry was confused, if he was angry, or if he believed Louis.

His question was answered when Harry finally turned around a minute or two later. By the way Harry was glaring at Louis, it was obvious that he still didn’t believe that he was a werewolf.

“I almost believed you for a second, but then I remembered that werewolves aren’t real!” Harry hissed.

Now Louis was starting to get angry. He was trying to be calm and assertive yet Harry was just yelling at him and telling him that everything he was saying was absolute bullshit. He was sick of it.

“I’m telling you the truth, Harry! I don’t know what else to do to prove to you that I am,” Louis snapped.

Harry huffed and rolled his eyes, then said, “Alright. If you’re a werewolf, change.”

Louis’ face paled and his eyes widened. “W-What?”

“You heard me,” Harry said. “Change right here, right now. Show me that you’re a werewolf.”

Panic surged through Louis and he began to shake his head in protest. “I-I can’t.”

“Why not?” Harry pushed. “Is it because werewolves don’t exist?”

Louis shook his head again. “No, they’re real. I just…” Louis trailed off.

“You just what, Louis?” Harry exclaimed, looking frustrated and angry.

“I can’t control myself, okay? I can’t willingly make myself shift, nor do I want to. The only time I shift when it’s not a full moon is when I’m really pissed off,” Louis told him.

Harry shook his head, looking absolutely fed up. “I can’t believe you. You tell give me some bullshit excuse, saying that you’re a werewolf, and when I ask you to prove it, you refuse. I give up, Louis. It’s obvious that I won’t get an honest answer from you, so I’m not going to keep trying to get one.” Harry let out a breath and turned around, making his way to the front door. “I wish I hadn’t seen you again,” he mumbled to himself.

It was supposed to be to himself, but Louis, with his heightened senses, heard what Harry said. Harry’s words hurt him deeply, as well as angered him. Harry’s words added fuel to the fire building up in the pit of Louis’ stomach, and his self-control slipped. He stormed over to Harry and grabbed him by the shoulder before roughly pinning him to the wall, just like he had done last time he and Harry were in this house. Gripping the collar of Harry’s black T-shirt, he lifted him off of the ground by a few centimetres. His eyes burned, but he paid no attention to that, focusing on keeping Harry pinned to the wall.

“I’m telling you the truth, Harry! I’m being honest, and all you’re doing is telling me that it’s all bullshit. When will you get it through your thick skull that I’m telling you the truth?” Louis growled, his voice lowered an octave.

The anger drained from Harry’s face, along with the colour, as he stared down at Louis. His eyes were wide in fear. Louis could feel Harry’s heart thump faster under his hands.

“Y-Your eyes,” Harry choked out.

It was then that Louis realized why his eyes were burning. It meant that they had turned yellow. Louis knew then that he needed to calm down. If he didn’t calm down soon, he could end up fully shifting in front of Harry and hurting him.

Louis kept his grip on Harry tight, however, and growled, “My eyes are nothing compared to what I look like fully shifted. Is this enough proof for you, Harry? Do you see now that I’m telling the truth?”

Harry nodded shakily, his breaths coming out in little gasps of air. Louis closed his eyes and willed them to return to their normal colour. When the burning behind his eyes went away, he opened them and looked up at Harry, feeling calmer.

Carefully, he lowered Harry to the floor. It was at that moment that he heard footsteps rushing towards them and Camellia’s panicked voice call out, “What’s going on in here?”

Louis released his grip on Harry and took a step back, wanting to put some distance between him and Harry. He knew it was inappropriate for him to do what he did to Harry, but he lost control. It was the second time that day, and he felt ashamed of himself for lashing out twice. He stared at Harry, who stared back at him with wide eyes. He was staring at him with a look that was somewhere between fear and disbelief.

“Nothing,” Louis answered, voice soft now. He kept his gaze on Harry as he said, “Everything’s fine. Go back to your room, please.”

He could see the hesitant look on Cam’s face from the corner of his eye. A few seconds later, she sighed and turned away, going back to her room. Louis hated how he was so demanding with her, and he planned to apologize later, but she just didn’t want her to seem him so angry for the second time that day. It was bad enough that he had lashed out and hurt her earlier that day – at least half an hour ago – but lashing out at Harry in front of her was almost as bad.

The sound of Cam’s bedroom door closing reached his ears, and he let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. He felt his heart rate slow down a bit, which was good because it meant he was calming down. He bit his lip and tried to think of something to say to break the tension that had once again buzzed through the air.

“Um…Sorry about that,” Louis apologized. Harry didn’t say anything, so Louis continued. “I shouldn’t have lashed out like that, but, uh…you believe me now, right?”

It took a moment or so, but Harry nodded. “Yeah…Hard not to.”

Louis felt a little relieved now that Harry believed him, but he also felt bad for lashing out. “Yeah…”

Harry cleared his throat and said slowly, “So, you ran away because you…you didn’t want to hurt anyone?”

Louis nodded. “Yeah. I realized that I had become a monster, and I wasn’t going to put my family’s life at stake, nor was I going to put my friends’ lives at stake. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, and I figured the safest thing to do was to flee the country. I knew that if I stayed in England, people would look for me, and I didn’t want to be found. So, I decided to move to Canada so that there was no chance of being found.”

Harry nodded his head slowly. “I see.”

Louis sighed and went back over to the couch. He sat down and put his head in his hands. “I didn’t want to leave,” he said. He tugged at some of his hair. “I would have stayed if I had been able to control myself, but I knew that that wasn’t a possibility.” Louis closed his eyes when he felt tears well up in them. Talking about his family was hard for him, and talking about them always reopened the hole in his heart that formed when he left them. He loved them so much and missed them dearly. He even missed Ernest and Doris, though he hadn’t met them yet.

“I miss them so much,” he admitted, voice cracking. He swallowed the lump in his throat, refusing to cry.

He heard footsteps approach him and then felt someone sit down next to him. “They miss you too,” Harry said, voice soft and gentle.

A sniffle came from Louis and he croaked softly, “Do they really think I’m dead?”

Harry sighed sadly and nodded, saying, “Yeah, they do. Everyone does.”

Louis clenched his eyes shut and took deep breaths, doing everything he could to keep himself from crying. After he calmed himself down a bit, he asked, “How are they?”

“All right,” Harry replied. Louis lifted his head up to look at Harry, eyes a little misty but no tears visible yet. “Still heartbroken over your ‘death’, but they’re doing better. Your mum gave birth to twins a couple years ago-”

“I know,” Louis said softly, cutting Harry off. Harry’s brows knitted together in confusion.

“How do you know about them?” he asked.

“I check my Mum’s Facebook every so often. I’ve seen so many photos of them. They’re adorable,” Louis answered. Just because he didn’t talk to his family anymore, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t check on them. He found ways of checking in on them every so often.

“Oh.”

Louis nodded and looked down at his hands, twiddling his fingers again. “I hope I can meet them some day.”

Harry was still for a moment before he put a hand on Louis’ shoulder, rubbed it in a comforting way, and said, “Maybe you will. I’m sure your Mum and sisters would love to see you again.”

Louis nodded for the umpteenth time and rubbed under his eyes, making sure that no tears fell. He didn’t want to cry today.

“I’m really sorry, Haz,” Louis said, using the old nickname he gave Harry when they were kids.

He looked up just in time to see Harry crack a smile, probably because he used his old nickname. “I never thought I’d hear you call me that again,” he said softly. “But I get it. I understand why you left, and I’m sorry you went through that. You could’ve told me, though. I would’ve helped you once you got me to believe you.”

Louis sighed and shook his head. “You wouldn’t have believed me, and even if you did, what could you have done to help me? You know nothing about werewolves, and I didn’t either. I still don’t know that much now.”

“I would’ve believed you eventually, and we would figure something out together,” Harry said, looking Louis in the eyes. “I will do anything to help the people I care about. You know that,” Harry reminded Louis.

“Yeah, Haz,” Louis said softly. “I know.” He sniffled and wiped his eyes again before asking, “Do you forgive me?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, I forgive you. I’m glad that you told me the truth. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you at first.”

“It’s alright,” Louis insisted. 

He smiled at Harry and pulled him into a hug. Harry returned the embrace and Louis sighed happily. He was glad that he finally got to see his best friend again. He missed everyone so much, and seeing Harry again made the hole in his heart a little smaller. He never thought that he would get to see or talk to anyone from home again, but here he is, hugging his best mate in his girlfriend’s house.

A few seconds later, they pulled away from the embrace and smiled at each other. Harry pulled out his phone and checked the time.

“Oh, I should probably get back to my motel,” Harry said, standing up while looking at his iPhone 6. “Carter says he needs some Advil or something to make him feel better.”

“Oh yeah. How did you meet Carter?” Louis asked, standing up as well.

“I’ll tell you later. I really should get going,” Harry promised.

Louis nodded, then his eyes lit up and he said, “How about I drive you back?”

Harry shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I took a cab here, anyway.”

Louis frowned. “Are you sure? I really don’t mind.”

“I’m sure,” Harry insisted. He went over to the front area and put on his coat and hat. After shoving his feet into his boots, he gave Louis a smile and said, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait, I don’t have your number,” Louis said.

“I’ll have Cam give it to you. I really need to go. I’ll talk to you later, Louis. Bye!” Harry said with a wave. He then opened the door and walked outside, slamming it shut behind him.

Louis stood there for a moment, smiling to himself because he was happy that he had his best friend back. He had been alone for so long, wanting to isolate himself because he was a monster and didn’t want to hurt anyone, but now he had a beautiful girlfriend and his best friend again and it felt as if everything was starting to get better.

A few minutes later, Louis heard a door open and footsteps approach. Then, Camellia’s face came into his vision. She looked worried, and Louis understood why. The last time she saw him and Harry, they were fighting.

“Did everything work out between you guys?” she asked.

Louis nodded and smiled down at her. “Yep! He knows the truth now and we’re on good terms.”

Camellia let out a breath of relief and put a hand on her chest. “Thank God! I was really worried there.”

Louis chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. He leaned forward so that their foreheads were touching and he said, “You know, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have talked to Harry today.”

Camellia shook her head and said, “You probably would have, eventually.”

“No, I wouldn’t have.” Louis shook his head. “You gave me the courage to talk to him, and it all worked out in the end. I’m sorry you had to deal with my anger when you first brought it up. I shouldn’t have hurt you, and I’m sorry.”

“Louis, it’s fine. I don’t want to talk about that,” Cam said.

“Alright,” Louis agreed. He leaned down and kissed her nose, chuckling when she scrunched it up cutely.

“Why’d you kiss my nose?” she asked.

“Because it’s cute, like you, so I had to kiss it,” he answered, smiling when he saw her blush.

“Oh – um – thanks.”

He chuckled again and whispered, “I love it when you blush.”

Camellia groaned and hid her face in his chest, causing him to laugh. He rubbed her back gently and held her close, enjoying the feeling of holding her in his arms.

He knew it hadn’t been very long, but Louis was already falling for her. He didn’t know what it was about her, but she just brought out this happiness that he hadn’t felt in years. He made him feel like his old self, and he liked that feeling. He just hoped that she would stick around for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is also on Wattpad (https://www.wattpad.com/story/63804253-dark-side-of-the-moon-louis) and Quotev (https://www.quotev.com/story/7544849/Dark-Side-of-the-Moon) so if you use those sites more often or have friends who use those sites and would like this story, please check it out on those sites.


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